American tree sparrow | |
---|---|
Scientific classification | |
Domain: | Eukaryota |
Kingdom: | Animalia |
Phylum: | Chordata |
Class: | Aves |
Order: | Passeriformes |
Family: | Passerellidae |
Genus: | Spizelloides Slager & Klicka, 2014 |
Species: | S. arborea |
Binomial name | |
Spizelloides arborea (Wilson, 1810) | |
Range map of Spizelloides arborea Breeding Migration Nonbreeding | |
Synonyms | |
Spizella monticola Contents |
The American tree sparrow (Spizelloides arborea), also known as the winter sparrow, [2] is a medium-sized New World sparrow.
In 2014, the American tree sparrow was moved to its own monotypic genus, Spizelloides, from genus Spizella , based on polyphyly in Spizella and multilocus molecular evidence suggesting the species was strongly divergent from other extant genera. [3] [4]
Measurements: [5]
Adults have a rusty cap and grey underparts with a small dark spot on the breast. They have a rusty back with lighter stripes, brown wings with white bars and a slim tail. Their face is grey with a rusty line through the eye. Their flanks are splashed with light brown. They are similar in appearance to the chipping sparrow.
Their breeding habitat is tundra or the northern limits of the boreal forest in Alaska and northern Canada. They nest on the ground. American tree sparrows migrate into southern Canada and the United States to spend the winter.
These birds forage on the ground or in low bushes, often in flocks when not nesting. They mainly eat seeds and insects, but also eat some berries. They are commonly seen near feeders with dark-eyed juncos.
This bird's song is a sweet high warble descending in pitch and becoming buzzy near the finish.
The dark-eyed junco is a species of junco, a group of small, grayish New World sparrows. The species is common across much of temperate North America and in summer it ranges far into the Arctic. It is a variable species, much like the related fox sparrow, and its systematics are still not completely resolved.
The chipping sparrow is a species of New World sparrow, a passerine bird in the family Passerellidae. It is widespread, fairly tame, and common across most of its North American range.
Pipilo is a genus of birds in the American sparrow family Passerellidae. It is one of two genera containing birds with the common name towhee.
The hooded warbler is a New World warbler. It breeds in eastern North America across the eastern United States and into southernmost Canada (Ontario). It is migratory, wintering in Central America and the West Indies. Hooded warblers are very rare vagrants to western Europe.
The field sparrow is a small New World sparrow in the family Passerellidae. It is about 140 mm (6 in) long and weighs about 12.5 g (0.4 oz). The head is grey with a rust-coloured crown, white eye-ring and pink bill. The upper parts are brown streaked with black and buff, the breast is buff, the belly is white and the tail is forked. There are two different colour morphs, one being greyer and the other more rufous.
Henslow's sparrow is a passerine bird in the family Passerellidae. It was named by John James Audubon in honor of John Stevens Henslow. It was originally classified in the genus Emberiza and called Henslow's bunting.
LeConte's sparrow, also known as LeConte's bunting, is one of the smallest New World sparrow species in North America.
The genus Spizella is a group of American sparrows in the family Passerellidae.
Brewer's sparrow is a small, slim species of American sparrow in the family Passerellidae. This bird was named after the ornithologist Thomas Mayo Brewer.
The crissal thrasher is a large thrasher found in the Southwestern United States to central Mexico.
The boreal forest or taiga of the North American continent stretches through a majority of Canada and most of central Alaska, extending spottily into the beginning of the Rocky Mountain range in Northern Montana and into New England and the Adirondack Mountains of New York. This habitat extends as far north as the tree line and discontinues in mixed deciduous-coniferous forests to the south. The "taiga", as it is called there, of Eurasia occupies a similar range on those continents. Throughout the Northern Hemisphere, the boreal forest covers 2.3 million square miles, a larger area than the remaining Brazilian Amazon rainforest. Although it is largely forest, the boreal forests include a network of lakes, river valleys, wetlands, peat lands and semi-open tundra.
New World sparrows are a group of mainly New World passerine birds, forming the family Passerellidae. They are seed-eating birds with conical bills, brown or gray in color, and many species have distinctive head patterns.
The Chaco sparrow, formerly known as the stripe-capped sparrow, is a species of bird in the family Passerellidae. It is found in Argentina and Paraguay.
The moustached brushfinch is a species of bird in the family Passerellidae.
Peucaea is a genus of American sparrows. The species in this genus used to be included in the genus Aimophila.