WatchList Species Account for Black-chinned Sparrow (Spizella atrogularis)

Qualifies for the list as a Red List Species

Photo: © Jim Burns/Friends of Queen Creek

The Black-chinned Sparrow is locally common in the arid brushlands of the Southwest and in parts of California occasionally to southern Oregon; it ranges southward into central and southern interior Mexico. It is a partial migrant, with some birds moving to lower elevations and others, particularly the more northern populations, moving southward. An inconspicuous bird, it frequents cover offered by shrubbery, where it forages low in the brush for seeds and insects.

Though it has declined in southern California, the extension into southern Oregon may have occurred only since the middle of the 20th Century though it may reflect more observers in the field. The bird ranges from sea level to 2,700 m, in gently to steeply sloped topography, where moderately dense brush is broken by rocky outcrops and occasional larger shrubs and trees. In southern California it is often abundant in chaparral. In winter the northern migratory populations move from chaparral and sagebrush habitat to lower elevation desert scrub to the south. Analysis of Breeding Bird Survey data shows significant recent decline in numbers in California although the bird may be expanding northward from the central and northern part of the state; may be increasing in New Mexico but apparently stable elsewhere. Population fluctuations of the bird may be determined in part by climatic change and variables in the weather, with peak numbers reached following wet winters.

Threats include overgrazing, mining and the use of trail bikes and other ATVs, all of which degrade its habitat and depress its numbers. Eliminating overgrazing in winter grasslands would benefit the bird, as would habitat preservation in areas where human activity is impacting the foothill chaparral.