Home/Species/ American Tree Sparrow

Spizelloides arborea

(Wilson, 1810)

American Tree Sparrow

G5Secure Found in 17 roadless areas NatureServe Explorer →

G5SecureGlobal Rank

Least concernIUCN

Identity

Unique IDELEMENT_GLOBAL.2.105457

Element CodeABPBX94010

Record TypeSPECIES

ClassificationSpecies

Classification StatusStandard

Name CategoryVertebrate Animal

IUCNLeast concern

Endemicoccurs (regularly, as a native taxon) in multiple nations

KingdomAnimalia

PhylumCraniata

ClassAves

OrderPasseriformes

FamilyPasserellidae

GenusSpizelloides

Synonyms

Passerella arborea(Wilson, 1810)Spizella arborea(Wilson, 1810)

Other Common Names

Bruant hudsonien (FR)

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/.

Taxonomic Comments

Formerly placed in the genus Spizella, but analysis of nuclear and mitochondrial DNA sequences (Klicka et al. 2014) indicates that S. arborea is not closely related to true Spizella (AOU 2015). Placed in the genus Passerella by del Hoyo et al. (2016).

Conservation Status

Rank MethodExpertise without calculation

Review Date2016-04-09

Change Date1996-12-04

Range Extent Comments

BREEDING: Alaska and across central Canada, from northern Yukon and Mackenzie east to Labrador. NON-BREEDING: south-coastal and southeastern Alaska (rarely), southern Canada south to northern California, central Nevada, northern and east-central Arizona, central and southeastern New Mexico, northern Texas, Arkansas, Tennessee, and North Carolina (casually farther south) (AOU 1983).

Ecology & Habitat

Habitat

Open willow, low shrubbery, scrub conifers, and bogs; in migration and winter also weedy fields, fencerows, thickets, brushy areas and gardens (AOU 1983). BREEDING: Breeds at edge of tundra, in shrubby areas, along streams, in bogs. Nests on or near the ground, in small trees or shrubs, grass tussocks, etc.

Ecology

During winter often seen in groups of 4-8 birds.

Reproduction

Eggs laid May-July (begins nesting in mid-June in northern Alaska and northwestern Canada). Clutch size 3-5, sometimes 6. Incubation 12-13 days (Terres 1980). Young tended by both adults, usually leave nest 9-10 days after hatching, unable to fly for 5-6 more days.

Terrestrial Habitats

Shrubland/chaparralGrassland/herbaceousOld fieldCropland/hedgerowSuburban/orchard

Palustrine Habitats

Bog/fen

Other Nations (2)

United StatesN5B,N5N

Province	Rank	Native
Colorado	S5N	Yes
New York	S4B	Yes
District of Columbia	S4N	Yes
New Jersey	S4N	Yes
Alabama	SNRN	Yes
Washington	S4N	Yes
Illinois	SNA	Yes
Idaho	S3N	Yes
Delaware	S2N	Yes
Indiana	S4N	Yes
Nebraska	SNRN	Yes
Vermont	S5N	Yes
Connecticut	S5N	Yes
Arkansas	S4N	Yes
Kansas	S5N	Yes
South Dakota	S4N	Yes
West Virginia	S4N	Yes
Minnesota	SNRN	Yes
North Dakota	SNRN	Yes
New Hampshire	SNA	Yes
Alaska	S5B	Yes
Montana	SNA	Yes
Ohio	SNRN	Yes
Michigan	SNRN	Yes
California	SNRN	Yes
Pennsylvania	S5N	Yes
Oklahoma	SNRN	Yes
Rhode Island	SNA	Yes
Arizona	S1N	Yes
New Mexico	S4N	Yes
Mississippi	SNA	Yes
Tennessee	S3N	Yes
Massachusetts	S5N	Yes
Texas	S4N	Yes
Oregon	S3N	Yes
Maryland	S3N	Yes
Utah	S3N	Yes
Kentucky	S3N	Yes
Wyoming	S5N	Yes
Iowa	S5N	Yes
Wisconsin	SNA	Yes
North Carolina	SNA	Yes
Missouri	SNRN	Yes
Navajo Nation	S3N	Yes
Nevada	S4N	Yes
Maine	S4N	Yes
Virginia	SNRN	Yes

CanadaN5B,N5N

Province	Rank	Native
Ontario	S5	Yes
Nova Scotia	S5N	Yes
Alberta	S3B,SUN	Yes
New Brunswick	S5N	Yes
Nunavut	S4B	Yes
British Columbia	S4B	Yes
Northwest Territories	S5	Yes
Prince Edward Island	S5N	Yes
Island of Newfoundland	S3B,SUM	Yes
Yukon Territory	S3B	Yes
Labrador	S4B,SUM	Yes
Manitoba	S5B	Yes
Quebec	S4B	Yes
Saskatchewan	S1B,S5M	Yes

Threat Assessments

Threat	Scope	Severity	Timing
11 - Climate change & severe weather	Pervasive (71-100%)	Unknown	Low (long-term)
11.1 - Habitat shifting & alteration	Pervasive (71-100%)	Unknown	Low (long-term)

Roadless Areas (17)

Alaska (4)

Area	Forest	Acres
North Baranof	Tongass National Forest	314,089
North Etolin	Tongass National Forest	40,993
Redoubt	Tongass National Forest	68,347
Sitka Urban	Tongass National Forest	112,003

Montana (5)

Area	Forest	Acres
East Pioneer	Beaverhead-Deerlodge National Forest	145,082
North Big Hole	Beaverhead-Deerlodge National Forest	52,227
Selway - Bitterroot (01067)	Bitterroot National Forest	114,953
West Big Hole	Beaverhead-Deerlodge National Forest	133,563
West Pioneer	Beaverhead-Deerlodge National Forest	248,631

New Hampshire (2)

Area	Forest	Acres
Cherry Mountain	White Mountain National Forest	8,766
Mt. Wolf - Gordon Pond	White Mountain National Forest	11,846

Oregon (1)

Area	Forest	Acres
Imnaha Face	Wallowa-Whitman National Forest	29,575

Pennsylvania (1)

Area	Forest	Acres
Allegheny Front	Allegheny National Forest	7,430

Utah (1)

Area	Forest	Acres
Wellsville	Wasatch-Cache National Forest	1,717

Vermont (1)

Area	Forest	Acres
Devil's Den 09083	Green Mountain and Finger Lakes National Forests	9,169

Virginia (1)

Area	Forest	Acres
Price Mountain	Jefferson National Forest	9,119

Wyoming (1)

Area	Forest	Acres
Middle Fork	Medicine Bow-Routt National Forest	13,238

References (19)

American Ornithologists' Union (AOU). 1983. Check-list of North American Birds, 6th edition. Allen Press, Inc., Lawrence, Kansas. 877 pp.
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/.
American Ornithologists' Union (AOU). Chesser, R.T., R.C. Banks, K.J. Burns, C. Cicero, J.L. Dunn, A.W. Kratter, I.J. Lovette, A.G. Navarro-Sigüenza, P.C. Rasmussen, J.V. Remsen, Jr., J.D. Rising, D.F. Stotz, and K. Winker. 2015. Fifty-sixth Supplement to the American Ornithologists' Union Check-list of North American Birds. The Auk 132:748-764.
Balda, R. P., and G. C. Bateman. 1971. Flocking and annual cycle of the piñon jay, Gymnorhinus cyanocephalus. Condor 73:287-302.
del Hoyo, J., N. J. Collar, D. A. Christie, A. Elliott, L. D. C. Fishpool, P. Boesman, and G. M. Kirwan. 2016. HBW and BirdLife International Illustrated Checklist of the Birds of the World. Volume 2: Passerines. Lynx Edicions and BirdLife International, Barcelona, Spain and Cambridge, UK.
Dodge, A. G., A. J. Fry, R. C. Blackwell, and R. M. Zink. 1995. Comparison of phylogenies derived from two molecular data sets in the avian genera PIPILO and SPIZELLA. Wilson Bulletin 107:641-654.
Godfrey, W.E. 1966. The birds of Canada. National Museums of Canada. Ottawa. 428 pp.
Harrison, C. 1978. A Field Guide to the Nests, Eggs and Nestlings of North American Birds. Collins, Cleveland, Ohio.
Horn, H. S. 1968. The adaptive significance of colonial nesting in the Brewer's Blackbird. Ecology 49:682-694.
Johnson, S. R. and D. R. Herter. 1989. The Birds of the Beaufort Sea. BP Exploration (Alaska) Inc., Anchorage, Alaska. 372 pp.
Ligon, J. D. 1971. Late summer-autumnal breeding of the piñon jay in New Mexico. Condor 73:147-153.
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.
National Geographic Society (NGS). 1983. Field guide to the birds of North America. National Geographic Society, Washington, DC.
Tarvin, K. A., and G. E. Woolfenden. 1999. Blue Jay (Cyanocitta cristata). No. 469 IN A. Poole and F. Gill, editors. The birds of North America. The Birds of North America, Inc., Philadelphia, PA. 32pp.
Terres, J. K. 1980. The Audubon Society encyclopedia of North American birds. Alfred A. Knopf, New York.
Thompson, F. R., III. 1994. Temporal and spatial patterns of breeding brown-headed cowbirds in the midwestern United States. Auk 111:979-990.
Williams, L. 1952b. Breeding behavior of the Brewer blackbird. Condor 54:3-47.
Willson, M. F. 1966. Breeding ecology of the Yellow-headed Blackbird. Ecological Monographs 36:51-77.
Zink, R. M., and D. L. Dittmann. 1993b. Population structure and gene flow in the chipping sparrow and a hypothesis for evolution in the genus SPIZELLA. Wilson Bull. 105:399-413.

Spizelloides arborea

Habitat

Ecology

Reproduction

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