Medium-sized sparrow with a long tail and round head. The face has a white eyering, a white spot before the eye, and a white mustache bordered by a thin black stripe.
Fairly large and long-tailed sparrow. Spends much of its time hopping or running on the ground between or beneath shrub cover, often with the tail raised.
Breeds in sage-dominated landscapes of western North America. Males sing from prominent perches during the breeding season; otherwise spend much of their time on the ground or hidden in shrubs.
Round, gray head contrasts with brown back. The face has a white spot in front of the eye, a white eyering, and a white mustache stripe with a thin black border.
Often twitches or bobs the tail while perched. Call is soft and high pitched.
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Sagebrush Sparrows are small songbirds—medium-sized for sparrows—with a relatively long tail. The head is rounded and the bill is fairly short and thick.
About the size of a Song Sparrow; slightly larger than a Brewer’s Sparrow.
sparrow-sized or smallerThe Sagebrush Sparrow was formerly considered one of five subspecies of the “Sage Sparrow." In 2013, Sage Sparrow was divided into two different species: one subspecies became the Sagebrush Sparrow, and the other four were classified as subspecies of Bell’s Sparrow. Bell's Sparrow has more subspecies and greater geographic variation because of their adaptability to a greater variety of habitat types and mountain ranges in and around California. The Sagebrush Sparrow, with somewhat paler plumage and longer wings (attributed to longer migrations), is fairly uniform across its broader range in the intermountain West of North America.
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