Peucaea cassinii
Silhouette: L. Shyamal · PhyloPic
In 3 days ~10% in a week ~20%
Cassin's sparrow (Peucaea cassinii) is a medium-sized sparrow. This passerine bird's range is from western Nebraska to north-central Mexico. The first Cassin's sparrow was described in 1852 by Samuel W. Woodhouse from a specimen collected near San Antonio, Texas, and given its species name in honor of John Cassin, a Philadelphia ornithologist. The species was originally known as Zonotrichia cassinii. It was subsequently and variously assigned to the genus Peucaea and eventually to Aimophila around the turn of the century. Much of the confusion seems to have stemmed from a serious lack of knowledge about the anatomy and life history of the species included in the genus.
There have been several substantial treatments of the taxonomy of species within the genus Aimophila and a comparison of the song patterns of Aimophila sparrows, but they have focused primarily on evaluating the evolutionary development of these species in order to determine whether this genus actually consists of an unnatural assemblage of species (actually representing several taxonomic groups or divergent forms). None of these publications called into question the placement of Cassin's sparrow within... Wikipedia →
| # | Park | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Big Bend National Park | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 2 | Guadalupe Mountains National Park | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 3 | Cumbres de Monterrey National Park | 🇲🇽 Mexico | |
| 4 | Channel Islands National Park | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 5 | Saguaro National Park | 🇺🇸 United States |
| # | City | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Monterrey | 🇲🇽 México | |
| 2 | Chicago | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 3 | San Francisco | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 4 | San Antonio | 🇺🇸 United States |
Rare
Under 5% of wildlife watchers report a Cassin's Sparrow sighting in Chicago on a given day, based on 6 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data. It is the 140th most-seen of the 314 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.
November
In that month about 10% of wildlife watchers report a Cassin's Sparrow in Chicago on a given day, against under 5% in December to October, the lowest months.
Between 8 and 11 am
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Cassin's Sparrow sightings with a recorded time, and about 9 in 10 of them come between 6 am and 6 pm: it is a daytime animal.
Among the best
Of the 4 cities where we can rate Cassin's Sparrow sightings, Chicago ranks 2nd at under 5%, level with the leaders once rounded. The best odds are in Monterrey (México, under 5%).
Same family: Passerellidae
The closest relatives of the Cassin's Sparrow that you can see in Chicago (family Passerellidae, New World Sparrows) are Song Sparrow (about 40%), Dark-eyed Junco (about 30%) and White-throated Sparrow (about 30%), with each one's daily chance of a sighting.
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Cassin's Sparrow is recorded against all the birds logged in Chicago (6 verified sightings), 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.
