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Home/Species/ Rufous-crowned Sparrow

Aimophila ruficeps

(Cassin, 1852)

Rufous-crowned Sparrow

G5Secure Found in 65 roadless areas NatureServe Explorer →
G5SecureGlobal Rank
Least concernIUCN
Identity
Unique IDELEMENT_GLOBAL.2.100071
Element CodeABPBX91090
Record TypeSPECIES
ClassificationSpecies
Classification StatusStandard
Name CategoryVertebrate Animal
IUCNLeast concern
Endemicoccurs (regularly, as a native taxon) in multiple nations
KingdomAnimalia
PhylumCraniata
ClassAves
OrderPasseriformes
FamilyPasserellidae
GenusAimophila
Other Common Names
Plectrophane à calotte fauve (FR) rufous-crowned sparrow (EN) Zacatonero Corona Rufa (ES)
Concept Reference
American Ornithologists' Union (AOU). 1998. Check-list of North American birds. Seventh edition. American Ornithologists' Union, Washington, D.C. [as modified by subsequent supplements and corrections published in The Auk]. Also available online: http://www.aou.org/.
Conservation Status
Review Date1996-12-04
Change Date1996-12-04
Range Extent20,000-2,500,000 square km (about 8000-1,000,000 square miles)
Range Extent Comments
BREEDING: central California, northern Arizona, southwestern New Mexico, southeastern Colorado, northwestern and central Oklahoma, south discontinuously to southern Baja California and Mexico. NON-BREEDING: throughout breeding range except northeastern portion, where usually winters from northeastern New Mexico, northern Texas and south-central Oklahoma southward.
Ecology & Habitat

Description

A 15-cm-long sparrow with a gray head, dark reddish crown, distinct whitish eye ring, rufous line extending back from eye, a single black whisker stripe on each side, and a long rounded tail; gray-brown above, with reddish streaks; gray below; interior forms are more grayish, coastal forms are dark reddish; pale reddish in Arizona; juveniles are buffier than are adults, dark brown above, with a streaked crown and breast and sometimes two pale wing bars (NGS 1983).

Habitat

Rocky hillsides, steep slopes of grass and brush. In Mexico, found in arid scrub and pine-oak habitat. Nests on ground at base of rock, tuft of grass, or sapling; or 0.3-1 m above ground in branches of shrub or tree.

Ecology

Estimated average territory size in southern California hard chaparral was about 1.5 hectares (Cody 1974).

Reproduction

Clutch size is 2-5 (usually 3-4). Incubation is by female. Altricial nestlings are tended by both parents.
Terrestrial Habitats
Woodland - MixedShrubland/chaparral
Other Nations (1)
United StatesN5
ProvinceRankNative
Navajo NationS2Yes
OklahomaSNRYes
New MexicoS5B,S5NYes
KansasS1Yes
CaliforniaSNRYes
ArizonaS4Yes
ArkansasS1Yes
TexasS4BYes
ColoradoS2Yes
NevadaS1Yes
Roadless Areas (65)
Arizona (18)
AreaForestAcres
Black CanyonPrescott National Forest10,683
Black CrossTonto National Forest5,966
BoulderTonto National Forest40,359
Butterfly Roadless AreaCoronado National Forest42,296
Catalina St. Pk. Roadless AreaCoronado National Forest951
ChiricahuaCoronado National Forest76,876
GaliuroCoronado National Forest28,333
Lime CreekTonto National Forest42,568
Lower San FranciscoApache-Sitgreaves National Forests59,310
MazatzalTonto National Forest16,942
Middle Dragoon RoadlessCoronado National Forest10,543
PipestemApache-Sitgreaves National Forests34,598
TumacacoriCoronado National Forest44,594
Upper Dragoon RoadlessCoronado National Forest2,533
Upper Rincon RoadlessCoronado National Forest2,991
Upper Romero WsrCoronado National Forest150
Walker MountainCoconino National Forest6,382
WhetstoneCoronado National Forest20,728
California (35)
AreaForestAcres
Arroyo SecoAngeles National Forest4,703
Bear MountainLos Padres National Forest913
Big RocksLos Padres National Forest11,866
Black ButteLos Padres National Forest5,116
Black Mtn.Sequoia National Forest15,102
CajonSan Bernardino National Forest7,548
CamuesaLos Padres National Forest8,209
Chips CreekPlumas National Forest12,940
Chips CreekLassen National Forest29,089
Cucamonga BSan Bernardino National Forest11,933
Cucamonga CSan Bernardino National Forest4,106
Dry LakesLos Padres National Forest17,043
Eagle PeakCleveland National Forest6,481
Fish CanyonAngeles National Forest29,886
Fox MountainLos Padres National Forest52,072
Garcia MountainLos Padres National Forest7,850
Greenhorn CreekSequoia National Forest28,226
IshiLassen National Forest21,805
LaddCleveland National Forest5,300
Magic MountainAngeles National Forest15,542
Malduce BuckhornLos Padres National Forest14,177
Mill CreekSequoia National Forest27,643
Mill PeakSan Bernardino National Forest7,884
MosesSequoia National Forest22,077
No NameCleveland National Forest4,897
NordhoffLos Padres National Forest12,031
Red MountainAngeles National Forest8,034
Salt CreekAngeles National Forest11,022
San Gabriel AddAngeles National Forest2,527
San SevaineSan Bernardino National Forest6,866
Santa CruzLos Padres National Forest21,182
Sespe - FrazierAngeles National Forest4,254
Sheep MountainAngeles National Forest21,098
TequepisLos Padres National Forest9,080
TrabucoCleveland National Forest23,341
New Mexico (12)
AreaForestAcres
Apache Kid ContiguousCibola National Forest67,542
Candian RiverCibola National Forest7,149
Contiguous To Black & Aldo Leopold WildernessGila National Forest111,883
Contiguous To Gila Wilderness & Primitive AreaGila National Forest79,049
Gila BoxGila National Forest23,759
Last Chance CanyonLincoln National Forest8,934
Ortega PeakLincoln National Forest11,545
Peloncillo (NM)Coronado National Forest43,339
Ryan HillCibola National Forest34,201
San JoseCibola National Forest16,950
South Guadalupe MountainsLincoln National Forest20,930
West Face Sacramento MountainsLincoln National Forest41,176
References (18)
  1. American Ornithologists' Union (AOU). 1983. Check-list of North American Birds, 6th edition. Allen Press, Inc., Lawrence, Kansas. 877 pp.
  2. American Ornithologists' Union (AOU). 1998. Check-list of North American birds. Seventh edition. American Ornithologists' Union, Washington, D.C. [as modified by subsequent supplements and corrections published in <i>The Auk</i>]. Also available online: http://www.aou.org/.
  3. Balda, R. P., and G. C. Bateman. 1971. Flocking and annual cycle of the piñon jay, <i>Gymnorhinus cyanocephalus</i>. Condor 73:287-302.
  4. BirdLife International. 2004b. Threatened birds of the world 2004. CD ROM. BirdLife International, Cambridge, UK.
  5. Bureau of Land Management. Life History Summaries.
  6. Cody, M. L. 1974. Competition and the structure of bird communities. Princeton University Press, Princeton, NJ.
  7. Harrison, C. 1978. A Field Guide to the Nests, Eggs and Nestlings of North American Birds. Collins, Cleveland, Ohio.
  8. Horn, H. S. 1968. The adaptive significance of colonial nesting in the Brewer's Blackbird. Ecology 49:682-694.
  9. Ligon, J. D. 1971. Late summer-autumnal breeding of the piñon jay in New Mexico. Condor 73:147-153.
  10. Moore, W. S., and R. A. Dolbeer. 1989. The use of banding recovery data to estimate dispersal rates and gene flow in avian species: case studies in the Red-winged Blackbird and Common Grackle. Condor 91:242-253.
  11. National Geographic Society (NGS). 1983. Field guide to the birds of North America. National Geographic Society, Washington, DC.
  12. Parker III, T. A., D. F. Stotz, and J. W. Fitzpatrick. 1996. Ecological and distributional databases for neotropical birds. The University of Chicago Press, Chicago.
  13. Poole, A. F. and F. B. Gill. 1992. The birds of North America. The American Ornithologists' Union, Washington, D.C. and The Academy of Natural Sciences, Philadelphia, PA.
  14. Tarvin, K. A., and G. E. Woolfenden. 1999. Blue Jay (<i>Cyanocitta cristata</i>). No. 469 IN A. Poole and F. Gill, editors. The birds of North America. The Birds of North America, Inc., Philadelphia, PA. 32pp.
  15. Terres, J. K. 1980. The Audubon Society encyclopedia of North American birds. Alfred A. Knopf, New York.
  16. Thompson, F. R., III. 1994. Temporal and spatial patterns of breeding brown-headed cowbirds in the midwestern United States. Auk 111:979-990.
  17. Williams, L. 1952b. Breeding behavior of the Brewer blackbird. Condor 54:3-47.
  18. Willson, M. F. 1966. Breeding ecology of the Yellow-headed Blackbird. Ecological Monographs 36:51-77.