Fauna Flora Photography

Chipping Sparrow Spizella passerina

A fairly widespread small bird mostly foraging on the ground for seed with a preference for coniferous forests or farmland, parks and gardens. It is a migratory bird, spending winter in the south of the US or Mexico.

Specs

Length13-15cm
Weight14-21g
Wingspan21-23cm

Common Names

GermanSchwirrammer
EnglishChipping Sparrow
FrenchBruant familier
SpanishChimbito común

Taxonomy

OrderPasseriformes
FamilyPasserellidae
SpeciesSpizella passerina

How to Identify

In the breeding season, the species displays a red cap and a clearly distinct black line through the eyes. Outside the breeding season the cap is brown and the black line less contrasted.

Chipping Sparrow (Spizella passerina) - Tadoussac - 2018-05-20
Chipping Sparrow (Spizella passerina) - Parc Île Saint Bernard - 2018-05-12

Where and When to Spot

I observed this sparrow less frequently on Montreal Island. I saw them once in Park Angrignon.

SpringSummerFallWinter
Belvédère Outremont x - - -
Champ des Possibles x - - -
Jardin Botanique de Montréal - x - -
Parc Angrignon - x - -
Parc Nature Pointe aux Prairies x - - -
Parc de la Cité - x - -
Saguenay St. Lawrence Marine Park - x - -

Where and when a species has been observed, identified, and recorded.


Last updated on 2023-12-15. Written and regularly updated by Karl-Heinz Müller, Dipl. Natw. ETH, Biology. With 10 years of experience in wildlife photography, Karl-Heinz shares first-hand, on-site collected observations, photos and videos from his frequent visits to parks in the Montreal area.