Brewer's Sparrow - Description and Systematics

Description and Systematics

Adults have grey-brown backs and speckled brown crowns, both with dark streaks, and a pale eye-ring. Their wings are brown with light wing bars and the underparts are pale grey. Their bill is pale with a dark tip and they have a long notched tail. They are similar in appearance to the Clay-colored Sparrow (S. pallida) but do not have a pale stripe on the crown or grey neck patch.

The male sings to defend a nesting territory. The song is a long varied mix of notes and trills. Males have 2 distinct types of songs - classified as short and long songs.

There are two distinct subspecies:

• Brewer's Sparrow proper, Spizella breweri breweri

Found in brushy areas, especially with sagebrush, in southern parts of western Canada and in the western United States.

• Timberline Sparrow, Spizella breweri taverneri

Found in thicketed areas around the tree line in the Rockies of northern British Columbia, the southern Yukon and southeastern Alaska. These birds are somewhat darker and larger than the southern subspecies; some consider this to be a separate species.