Clay-colored Sparrow
Spizella pallida
Clay-colored Sparrows are small Spizella sparrows about the same size as Chipping and Field sparrows. They can be sometimes be hard to tell apart from winter-plumaged Chipping Sparrows. Chipping Sparrows (Spizella passerina) can be seperated by their dark lores and gray rump. Clay-colored Sparrows are buffy overall, with a brown rump and pale lores. The color in the photo above is somewhat off. Usually Clay-colored Sparrows are much are warmer, more buff and tan in color. Some of the photos farther down on this page show fairly accurate color, including the photo below. The photo below also shows comparison with the Chipping Sparrow perched above it on the feeder.
Clay-colored Sparrows range in the breeding season from central Canada south to Wyoming in the U.S. and east through the Great Lakes region to western NY and, recently, western Pennsylvania. They winter in south Texas south through Mexico. They are rare, regular migrants in PA. Clay-colored Sparrows were confirmed breeding in PA for the first time in the summer of 1999, when a pair was observed carrying food for young into a young pine tree at a reclaimed strip mine in Clarion county, in western PA. at a. In April 1999, I was surprised to find a Clay-colored Sparrow at our bird feeders here in norch-central PA! This bird ended up staying for 7 days in our yard here in north central PA., and was the first record in the county for at least 10 years or more (Click here to read more about this bird). In May 2000, while visiting another birder's place after an Audubon field trip, I was again surprised when I found a Clay-colored Sparrow at this lady's feeders, again in my county! This time the sparrow was about 20 miles from my yard, and stayed for at least a week before moving on.
In the breeding season Clay-colored Sparrows prefer open, brushy habitats with few trees. Chipping Sparrows have a wider range of habitats, from open woods to brushy fields. Clay-colored Sparrows are often encountered with Chipping Sparrows during migration.
Additional Photos:
A few things to note:
- The color is not consistent in every photo. That is because of a faulty cord that we were using to get the photos onto the computer, and also some pics were taken when daylight was beginning to fade. However, in most of the pictures the color of the sparrow is accurate.
- seed in the feeder is white millet seed, a small, round, creamy-buff-colored seed
- In some photos there appears to be a central breast spot. That spot was NOT visable to me when I was looking at the bird. I beleive that the feathers may be ruffled, and the video camera was probably picking it up and made the spot appear darker. The fading daylight and faulty cord also made some of the images on the computer appear dark, and the breast spot even darker.
NOTE: All photos © 1999, 2000 Benjamin's Wild Bird Homepage
Click on the photo for a full-sized view, then click on the back button to return to this page.
| Photo | Description | Photo | Description |
 | A pic from April 1999 showing inferior color quality. |
 | Another color-challenged pic from 1999. |
 | A closeup showing good color. Notice the brown rump and pale buffy lores. |
 | The Clay-colored Sparrow on the ground. |
 | A closeup comparison of a Chipping Sparrow and Clay-colored Sparrow side-by-side on a feeder. |
 | Comparison of a Field Sparrow (top) and a Clay-colored Sparrow (bottom). The bluish color was absent on the birds, but appeared when we grabbed this still-shot from the video. |
 | A pic of the Clay-colored Sparrow from May 2000. |
 | Another pic of the May 2000 bird. |
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