The Black-chinned Sparrow is a Sparrow locally found in the arid brushlands throughout the southwestern United States and south-central Mexico. The retiring habits and the elusive behaviors make this species one of the least-known songbirds of its regions. Very little is understood of their behaviors, food, enemies, and most aspects of their breeding habits. As a result, most of what we know is drawn from anecdotal accounts and collected specimens of early 20th century ornithologists.
About Black-chinned Sparrows
Unlike many other Sparrows, these birds are sexually dimorphic. The distinct black chin of breeding males being absent in females and nonbreeding males. However, the clear marked faces of breeding males do not make them as easy to spot as one might think. They are unassuming and tend to easily blend in with their environments, choosing to stay within shrubbery and foraging within low brushes for seeds and insects. They are abundant on chaparral slopes but can irregularly and unpredictably show up in other ecosystems. These birds have popularly been described as sparrows with calls that sound like bouncing ping pong balls. As a result, their unique vocal and physical traits have given them the status of being some of the most intriguing Sparrows found in North America. Today, we want to be
breaking down all that is known about these birds in detail. We will be discussing:
● Black-chinned Sparrow Photos, Color Pattern, Song
● Black-chinned Sparrow Size, Eating Behavior, Habitat
● Black-chinned Sparrow Range and Migration, Nesting
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Black-chinned Sparrow Color Pattern
Black-chinned Sparrows are some of the few sparrows that are sexually dimorphic in appearance. This means that adults of both sexes have marked differences in their plumage. Both have a grayish head, and rump, along with ashy underparts and upper tail-coverts. Their lower belly is whitish to gray, with brownish-black wings that are highlighted by buff-brown shades. The back is also brown with blackish streaks. Both sexes are also easily distinguishable from their pink bills, legs, and toes.
Adult breeding males have a black upper throat and chin that extends to the regions above the bill, while females have gray throats and lores. Males during the nonbreeding seasons look similar to females but have a paler back with broader black streaks and deep cinnamon shades on their wing coverts. Their underparts are also duller, darker, and very slightly streaked with darker gray. Nonbreeding males have pale chins and throats, features that stand out with their white abdomens. Juveniles look like females but generally have paler crowns with their underparts lightly streaked with brownish shades. Their upperparts are lighter and less brown than females on the crown and back, with fewer amounts of red and buff overall.
Description and Identification
These secretive birds can make spotting these birds quite a challenge. Males can be easily spotted as they occupy visible perches in order to sing during the breeding seasons. Their piercing calls are easily audible in their habitats, ranging from desert scrubs to chaparral. Scanning the tops of shorter shrubs for a dark gray sparrow singing at the top of its lungs is one of the easiest ways to locate them. Their gray heads and pink bills are a blatant giveaway once a birder manages to catch a glimpse of them. During the nonbreeding seasons, they move down in elevation and can be frequently seen in areas that are more accessible than their preferred habitats during the warmer months of the year.
Black-chinned Sparrow Song
The most notable song is the typical song that the males let out can be heard throughout the day. It begins with a few introductory notes, before being followed by a long whistle that has a trilling quality to it. These whistle-trill notes either ascend in pitch or descend in pitch. The best rendering for it can be described as “sweet-sweet-te-te-te-tt-tt-t-t-t”, or even as “dear-dear-dew-dew-dew-de-de-d-d-d”.
Typical songs are delivered spontaneously in the absence of mates and neighbors and are very loud. Under the right weather conditions, their songs can be heard a mile up or down the canyon. Its function is to advertise the territory the male is holding and to attract a potential mate.
Another song that is frequently heard is the coupled song, different from the typical song in acoustic structure, cadence, and context. It is given during the predawn chorus at the height of the breeding season but has very rarely been heard during the day. It is also faster than their signature song in comparison. This song has been presumed to be used with hostile incentives, mostly to drive away potential competitors for a mate or their territory.
Both of these songs have large amounts of variation between different geographical regions, with the quality of trills, pitch, and general structure and patterns of the songs varying greatly between the extreme ends of their range. These songs have only been observed to vary regionally, rather than locally. Their calls include a chip, let out by both sexes and most frequently near the nest while carrying food, or to alert the nestlings and distract predators.
Black-chinned Sparrow Size
Black-chinned Sparrows are small and slender Sparrows around 5.8 inches in length. They have large, round heads, and conical bills that aid them in eating seeds. They are very light, weighing only about 0.3–0.5 ounces. Their wingspan is also rather small, extending only till 7.7 inches when stretched completely. Their tail is rather long and stands out against their small bodies. These proportions make these birds larger than Bushtits and smaller than
Canyon Towhees.
Black-chinned Sparrow Behavior
While there is no data on their behavior on the ground, it is presumed that they hop about on the rare occasions that they touch land. Their flight is usually direct, low, and very close to ground level. They occasionally go through alleyways within a bush or fly low over the tops of bushes. Like other Sparrows, they are not known to be swimmers or divers.
Males are territorial and can get moderately aggressive in defending their territories. Physical contact during hostile encounters is not reported, but males engage in short chases with their rivals throughout a territory. In the event of an intruder, one of the members of the pair gives out their alarm chip calls near the nest to attract their mate, who joins them in sounding a vocal alarm. Males are generally responsible for maintaining their territories during the breeding season. The role of the females is not well-studied, but it is assumed that they protect the immediate vicinity surrounding the nest, like most other Sparrows.
These birds are strictly monogamous, with no reports of polygamy throughout their range. While the duration of the pair bond is not fully understood, it is assumed that pairs stay together for single breeding, but their bonds can extend beyond a year unless they meet with unforeseen circumstances. Mated pairs keep to themselves and are solitary during the breeding seasons, but they gather in loose, local colonies during the other seasons. As is common among Sparrows, they frequently forage with birds of other species.
Black-chinned Sparrow Diet
These birds consume both insects and plant-based matter like seeds. During the breeding seasons, they mainly consume insects to consume sufficient amounts of protein and to provide the nestlings with the protein-rich diet required for growth. The exact details of their diet are not well-known, but they most likely consume insects like butterflies, mantids, flies, dragonflies, and insect larvae of whatever is available. When insect populations become
scarce during the winter seasons, they take seeds from grasses and other flowering plants while perched on a nearby shrub or from the ground.
Black-chinned Sparrow Habitat
Black-chinned Sparrows are frequently found inhabiting dry brush lands and open chaparral, ranging anywhere from near sea level to 8,000 feet. They are typically found residing in open thickets of sagebrush, rabbitbrush, manzanita, ceanothus, scrub oak, chamise, and other low shrubs of chaparral species. Their breeding locations are generally located in rocky hillsides and winter downslope in desert scrub. Their wintering grounds are also found within the same desert areas, with popular spots centered in mesquite thickets. In these areas, they can often be found foraging and associating with Chipping Sparrows or Brewer’s Sparrows.
Range and Migration
These sharp birds are found throughout portions of extreme south-western United States and throughout most of northern and central Mexico. Their breeding range extends from pockets of places in California, Arizona, New Mexico, to southern Nevada and Utah.
Migration season then takes them over to northern Mexico, where many choose to travel to the Baja California Peninsula or simply to marginally warmer areas in the north-most areas of Mexico. These birds are short-distance migrants. Populations that reside in the interiors of central Mexico are permanent residents of their habitats and do not migrate.
Black-chinned Sparrow Lifecycle
Black-chinned Sparrows only have a single brood all year, with each brood having a clutch size of 2–5 light bluish-green eggs. Incubation is done mostly by the female for 13 days, after which the chicks hatch at a helpless state, entirely naked with their eyes closes. The nestlings are fed by both the parents for presumably at least two weeks, but the exact age at which these birds leave their nests is not fully understood.
Nesting
These birds place their nests around 2–4 feet above the ground near the center of a dense shrub. Females are responsible for constructing the nests, though males might sometimes help in gathering materials. Dry grasses, yucca fibers, and weed stems are woven into a loose cup-shaped nest, which is then lined with finer grasses, feathers, or animal hair, and softer plant material for the interiors.
Anatomy of a Black-chinned Sparrow
Black-chinned Sparrows are small and slender Sparrows around 5.8 inches in length. They have large, round heads, and conical bills that aid them in eating seeds. They are very light, weighing only about 0.3–0.5 ounces. Their wingspan is also rather small, extending only till 7.7 inches when stretched completely. Their tail is rather long and stands out against their small bodies. These proportions make these birds larger than Bushtits and smaller than
Canyon Towhees.
Final Thoughts
As with most other Sparrows, Black-chinned Sparrows have been suffering from a constant decline. Their populations have declined by over 62% since the late 1960s, with Partners in Flight placing them on the Yellow Watch List of threatened animals. The greatest factors that threaten their numbers are changing climate and rainfall patterns, with wet winters affecting their feeding patterns and dry summers delaying breeding. Extensive grazing of livestock can also degrade chaparral areas, causing their numbers to fall more. As a result, these birds can sometimes be found moving further to urban areas in search of available food.
These elusive birds are known to be reclusive, and thus are not the fastest at adapting to new environments. This is a shame since they offer many insights to birders and nonbirders alike into the peculiarities of the wide family of sparrows. While it is easy to underestimate sparrows due to their sheer abundance in most regions of the world, they are one of the many reminders of the vast diversity found in the avian world. So, grab a pair of binoculars and head to the nearest chaparral in summer! Keep your distance and your ears wide open, because you might just see their gray heads bobbing and pink bills opening as they let out their sweet songs.
Ornithology
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Black-chinned Sparrow Stickers
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Bird Feeders ForBlack-chinned Sparrows
There are many types of bird feeders. Bird feeders are a great addition to your backyard. Bird feeders will increase the chances of attracting birds drastically. Both kids and adults will have a great time watching birds eat at these bird feeders. There are a wide variety of bird feeders on the market and it is important to find the best fit for you and your backyard.
Bird Houses ForBlack-chinned Sparrows
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