American Tree Sparrow

LC - Least Concern

N5B, N5N - Secure Breeding and Nonbreeding

SNRN - Unranked Nonbreeding

not listed

The crown and the stripe behind the eye (postocular stripe) are both reddish-brown (rufous). The breast is pale gray and unmarked except for a single dark spot in the center.

6″ to 6½″ in length

9½″ wingspan

Brushy thickets, semi-open fields, roadside shrubs

Early March to late May and mid-September to late November

In summer, mostly insects but also berries. In winter, seeds.

Common to abundant migrant and winter visitor

The Minnesota Ornithologists’ Union All Seasons Species Occurrence Map

New World sparrows were traditionally combined with buntings into the family Emberizidae. Recent phylogenetic analysis (Barker et al. 2013) and mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) analysis (Klicka et al. 2014) found that the Old World buntings should be separated as a sister to New World sparrows. New World sparrows have been separated into a new family, Passerellidae.

This species was formerly classified as Spizella arborea. Several mitochondrial DNA studies between 1993 and 2014 supported separating this species into its own genus. In 2014, based on mtDNA data and morphological characters, it was finally reclassified as Spizelloides arborea. Some authorities use the name Passerella arborea.

Share your video of this bird.

Location: Big Stone National Wildlife Refuge

An American Tree Sparrow in the early morning among some branches below the outcropping in The Big Stone National Wildlife Refuge. This one escaped being a meal for Bald Eagles this morning.

Location: Big Stone National Wildlife Refuge

An American Tree Sparrow near the Minnesota River along the Auto Tour Wild Life Drive road.