Chipping Sparrow (Spizella Passerina) Richard Brewer

Chipping Sparrow (Spizella passerina) Richard Brewer

Grandville, Kent Co., MI 5/4/2008 © John Van Orman

(Click to view a comparison of Atlas I to II)

This small sparrow sings its trill and eats grass The picture is of a common species able to find suitable habitat almost anywhere in the state. and weed seeds in Michigan's neighborhoods, Occurrence by township is slightly higher in the campuses, and parks. But it also occurs far SLP than the NLP. The difference is only about from our homes and is, in fact, one of the most 3%, but is consistent between MBBA I and II. widespread and common of North American For the UP, the percentage of townships landbirds. Its breeding range is from southern reporting Chipping Sparrows is definitely lower, Alaska east to Newfoundland and south to and this also is consistent between the two atlas northern Florida and central America. periods. Several factors may be involved, some However, it is absent from or rare in much of of no biological consequence such as the fact the southernmost U.S., large sections of the that the UP, owing to a high ratio of shoreline Great Plains, and arid or heavily forested zones perimeter to area, has many "townships" that are in the West (Middleton 1998). Most of the birds fragments of land more or less surrounded by that breed in the U.S. and Canada evidently Great Lakes water. These often received little migrate south for the winter, to the southern or no coverage. In all three regions of the state, U.S. and northern Mexico. In Mexico, these most of the townships lacking documented winter birds overlap other populations of Chipping Sparrows are the fragmentary ones Chipping Sparrows that are year-round residents and occasional others that received scant there. Other resident populations of Chipping coverage. Sparrows live farther south in Mexico and beyond, to Nicaragua and Honduras. But it is also probable that fewer Chipping

Sparrows live in the UP because of large blocks Distribution of unsuitable habitat, such as dense or wet forest Some things change and some stay the same. and open wetlands, and because lower human The status of the Chipping Sparrow in Michigan populations result in less of the ornamental is in the second category. For MBBA I, the conifer and mowed grass landscape that seems species was recorded in a little more than 90% near optimal for the species. of the townships; for MBBA II the percentage was almost identical. Chipping Sparrows are probably best thought of

© 2010 Kalamazoo Nature Center Chipping Sparrow (Spizella passerina) Richard Brewer as savanna birds. A simple definition of voice on brief visits to a site. Visual observation savanna is grassland with scattered trees, but the is easy most of the summer because of the large vegetation type has a broad scope from nearly amounts of time birds spend in plain sight in open to nearly forest. As a species, the Chipping low vegetation and on the ground. Sparrow occurs over the whole range and, botanically, accepts a wide range of pines and Depending on individual variation (in bird and other conifers, oaks, and herbaceous plants. observer), songs of Chipping Sparrows in Habitat data from MBBA I showed that the Michigan can be confused with other species, species preferred dry conifer forest, residential, particularly Pine Warbler and Dark-eyed Junco. roadside, and related vegetation, and dry mixed For this reason, the identity of an unseen bird in forest. It was one of the three leading species in northern Michigan singing a trill in dry pine, residential, roadside, and related vegetation mixed forests or savannas may be uncertain. throughout the state. Nevertheless, Chipping Sparrows are among the more easily and reliably tallied species. It has been suggested that, prior to the deforestation accompanying European Historically, Chipping Sparrows arrived in settlement, Chipping Sparrows were scarcer southern Michigan around the second week in (Middleton 1998). In Michigan, it's probably April, later farther north. The average first date true that the loss of large continuous stands of at Battle Creek for the years 1918-1944 was 13 beech-maple, northern hardwoods, and certain April (Walkinshaw 1944). As a result of global conifers led to increases; however, savannas and climate change, we might expect certain life open forests of oaks or pines occurred pretty history activities, including spring arrival, to be much throughout the state and probably shifted forward. Short-distance migrants arrive supported sizable populations of the bird. Based disproportionately earlier in response to global on acreages of original vegetation types (Albert warming compared to long-distance migrants and Comer 2008), my surmise is that at least a (Butler 2003), so the change might be especially quarter of the state's presettlement land would noticeable in a species like the Chipping have been favorable habitat. Sparrow. Observations at Middleborough, Massachusetts, show that the spring arrival of Breeding bird atlases from surrounding states all Chipping Sparrows advanced significantly over show the species as common and widely the period 1970-2002 (Ledneva et al. 2004). distributed. It is also wide-spread in Ontario The rate was about three-quarters of a day and is one of the ten most abundant species in earlier per year. the province (Cadman et al. 2007). Variations in abundance were more evident in Ontario than in Abundance and Population Trends Michigan, with lowest populations in the (Click to view trends from the BBS) sparsely inhabited Hudson Bay lowlands of Chipping Sparrow abundance for MBBA I was tundra, marshes, and salt-water shoreline. well represented by a contour map based on BBS routes. Lowest densities, below 20 birds Breeding Biology per route, were in the eastern part of the LP and Early in their breeding cycle, Chipping large sections of the UP. Scattered routes, Sparrows sing frequently, but once pairs are mostly in the LP, recorded more than 40 birds. formed singing rate drops considerably, except for the dawn chorus (Walkinshaw 1944, Liu and Based on BBS data for the state as a whole, Kroodsma 2007). During this part of the Chipping Sparrow numbers have been nearly summer, the species is less easily registered by level since MBBA I (1989-2007) (Sauer et al. 2008). In the years preceding MBBA I (1966-

1988), numbers had increased significantly, Birds in Decline. Accessed 5/5/09 at with the biggest increase occurring in the BirdLife International. 2008. Species factsheet: The Partners in Flight landbird population Spizella passerina. Accessed from estimate for the Chipping Sparrow based on on 6/5/2009. BBS survey routes for 2004 is approximately Butler, C.J. 2003. The disproportionate effect of two million birds for the whole state of global warming on the arrival dates of Michigan (PIF 2007) short-distance migratory birds in North America. Ibis 145: 484-495. Conservation Needs Cadman, M.D., D.A. Sutherland, G.G. Beck, D. There are a few faintly troubling signs, such as Lepage, and A.R.Couturier, Eds. 2007. lowered success where native foraging habitat is Atlas of the Breeding Birds of Ontario, replaced by spotted knapweed (Ortega et al. 2001-2005. Toronto, Canada, Bird Studies 2006) and indications of declining abundance in Canada, Environment Canada, Ontario the West (Audubon California 2006). Field Ornithologists, Ontario Ministry of Nevertheless, the species is placed in the Least Natural Resources, and Ontario Nature. Concern category by the International Union for Ledneva, A., A.J. Miller-Rushing, R.B. the Conservation of Nature and Natural Primack, and C. Imbres. 2004. Climate Resources (Birdlife International 2008). change as reflected in a naturalist's diary, Middleborough, Massachusetts. Wilson Of the 150 species of Eastern North American Bulletin 116(3):224-231. birds considered in a large study of the potential Liu, W., and D.E. Kroodsma. 2007. Dawn and effects of climate change, the Chipping Sparrow daytime singing behavior of Chipping was ranked currently as the 19th most abundant Sparrows (Spizella passerina). Auk 124(1): species (Matthews et al. 2004). Even continued 44-52. climate change seems not to be a serious threat Matthews, S.N., R.J. O'Connor, L.R. Iverson, in Michigan. Although computer models and A.M. Prasad. 2004. Atlas of climate indicate that a doubling of atmospheric carbon change effects in 150 bird species of the dioxide would produce a substantial decline in Eastern United States. Gen. Tech. Rep. abundance over Eastern North America as a NE-318. USDA Forest Service. whole, the most serious effects would occur Northeastern Research Station. 340 pp. south of Michigan. Middleton, A.L. 1998. Chipping Sparrow (Spizella passerina). In The Birds of North Barring major changes in the landscape, the America. No.334 (A. Poole and F. Gill, status of the Chipping Sparrow in Michigan eds.) The Birds of North America, Inc., seems highly secure. Philadelphia PA. Ortega, K., K.S. McKelvey, and D.L. Six. 2006. Literature Cited Invasion of an exotic forb impacts reproductive success and site fidelity of a Albert, D., and .J. Comer. 2008. Atlas of Early migratory songbird. Oecologia 149 (2) 340- Michigan's Forests, Grasslands, and 351. Wetlands: An Interpretation of the 1816- Partners in Flight (PIF). 2007. PIF Landbird 1856 General Land Office Survey. East Population Estimates Database [web Lansing, Michigan State University Press. application]. Version 2004. Rocky Audubon California. 2006 California Common Mountain Bird Observatory. http://www.

rmbo.org/pif_db/laped/default.aspx (accessed 28 May 2009). Sauer, J.R., J.E. Hines, and J. Fallon. 2008. The North American Breeding Bird Survey, Results and Analysis 1966 - 2007. Version 5.15.2008. USGS Patuxent Wildlife Research Center, Laurel, MD. Walkinshaw, L.H. 1944. The Eastern Chipping Sparrow in Michigan. Wilson Bulletin 56(4) 193-205.

Suggested Citation

Brewer, Richard. 2010. Chipping Sparrow (Spizella passerina) In Chartier, A.T., J.J. Baldy, and J.M. Brenneman (eds.). 2010. The Second Michigan Breeding Bird Atlas. Kalamazoo Nature Center. Kalamazoo, MI. Accessed online at: .