Spizella pallida
Silhouette: Andy Wilson · PhyloPic
In 3 days ~10% in a week ~20%
The clay-colored sparrow or clay-coloured sparrow (Spizella pallida) is a small New World sparrow of North America. Adults have light brown upperparts and pale underparts, with darker streaks on the back. They have a pale crown stripe on a dark brown crown, a white line over the eyes, a dark line through the eyes, a light brown cheek patch and brown wings with wing bars. The short bill is pale with a dark tip and the back of the neck is grey; they have a long tail. Non-breeding adults and immature resemble chipping sparrows and Brewer's sparrows; they often form flocks with these birds outside the nesting season.
Their breeding habitat is shrubby open areas and jack pine woods across central Canada and central northern United States east to the Great Lakes, and is expanding further eastward. The nest is an open cup on the ground or low in a shrub.
These birds migrate in flocks to southern Texas and Mexico. They forage on the ground, mainly eating seeds and insects. Outside the nesting season, they often feed in small flocks. While nesting, these birds may feed far from the nest; feeding areas are not defended.
The male sings from an open perch to indicate his ownership of the nesting territory. The song is a Bzzzz bzzzz za za. This bird's nests are made of grasses and lined with fine materials or hair. Three to five splotched blue-green eggs are laid and incubated for 11 days. They are often parasitized by the brown-headed cowbird; the nest may be abandoned when this happens. Wikipedia →
| # | City | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Calgary | 🇨🇦 Canada | |
| 2 | León | 🇲🇽 México | |
| 3 | Edmonton | 🇨🇦 Canada | |
| 4 | Puebla | 🇲🇽 México | |
| 5 | Toluca | 🇲🇽 México | |
| 6 | Torreón | 🇲🇽 México | |
| 7 | Mexico City | 🇲🇽 México | |
| 8 | Monterrey | 🇲🇽 México | |
| 9 | Portland | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 10 | San Antonio | 🇺🇸 United States |
Rare
Under 5% of wildlife watchers report a Clay-colored Sparrow sighting in Banff National Park on a given day, based on 79 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data from 2019 to 2026. It is the 100th most-seen of the 191 birds we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to about 10%, and over a week to about 20%, if each day is a fresh chance.
May and June
In those months about 10% of wildlife watchers report a Clay-colored Sparrow in Banff National Park on a given day, against under 5% in July to April, the lowest months.
Between 8 and 11 am
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Clay-colored Sparrow sightings with a recorded time, and nearly all of them come between 6 am and 6 pm: it is a daytime animal.
13th of 24
Of the 24 parks where we can rate Clay-colored Sparrow sightings, Banff National Park ranks 13th at under 5%. The best odds are in Elk Island National Park (Canada, about 40%), Riding Mountain National Park (Canada, about 20%) and Big Bend National Park (United States, about 10%).
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Clay-colored Sparrow is recorded against all the birds logged in Banff National Park (79 verified sightings from 2019 to 2026), calibrated against known sighting rates. Figures are rounded to the nearest 10% because citizen-science data supports honest approximations, not decimals, and months with records from fewer than five people show "—". How it works.
