# Clay-colored Sparrow

*Spizella pallida*

Their song is so mechanical and buzzy that it is often mistaken for the sound of an insect, like a cicada or grasshopper.

- **Taxonomy:** Animalia › Chordata › Aves › Passeriformes › Passerellidae › Spizella
- **IUCN Red List status:** Least Concern
- **Population trend:** stable
- **Biome:** grassland
- **Habitat:** Shrubby fields, brushy grasslands, and forest edges with thick undergrowth.
- **Diet:** Primarily seeds in winter; shifts to insects like grasshoppers and beetles during the breeding season.
- **Range:** Canada, United States, Mexico
- **Size:** 12-14 cm in length; wingspan of approximately 19 cm.
- **Lifespan:** 4-6 years
- **Active:** diurnal
- **Threats:** Habitat loss due to intensive agriculture and collisions with man-made glass structures during migration.
- **Safe to approach?:** Harmless. These birds are shy and easily startled; maintain a respectful distance of 10-15 feet. Do not disturb low-lying shrubs during nesting season to protect their delicate ground-adjacent nests.

## About

The clay-colored sparrow or clay-coloured sparrow ( Spizella pallida ) is a small sparrow of North America.

## Sources

- Plate: https://gaia-dex.com/species/38d7e30c-fc17-40fc-997e-f388928a1f28
- iNaturalist: https://www.inaturalist.org/taxa/9148
- Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spizella pallida
- Conservation status: IUCN Red List category, as recorded by Gaia-Dex
- Photo: https://inaturalist-open-data.s3.amazonaws.com/photos/522759948/medium.jpg (Chrissy McClarren and Andy Reago, CC0, via iNaturalist)

Habitat, diet, size and similar notes are AI-written summaries; check them against the linked sources before relying on them.