Clay-colored Sparrow (Spizella pallida)

Clay-colored Sparrows breed in the northen northern plains states of the U.S. and the prairie provinces of Canada. The birds favor early successional scrub, where they build a cup-shaped nest close to the ground. Most Clay-colored Sparrows migrate through the midwestern U.S. to their traditional wintering grounds in extreme southern Texas and Mexico.

Some Clay-colored Sparrows make their way to the U.S. east coast, where they work their way south as winter progresses. Birds may spend the coldest part of the winter from coastal SC down through Florida.

This Clay-colored Sparrow was one of a pair discovered in the first week of October, 2003 by W. David Chamberlain at Patriot's Point in Mount Pleasant, SC. The birds spent a week fattening up on grass and weed seeds before continuing south.

Photos by Burton E. Moore III

(click a thumbnail to see the full-sized image)

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