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Peucaea cassinii

(Woodhouse, 1852)

Cassin's Sparrow

G5Secure Found in 19 roadless areas NatureServe Explorer →
G5SecureGlobal Rank
Least concernIUCN
Cassin's Sparrow (Peucaea cassinii). © Jim Merritt; Cornell Lab of Ornithology | Macaulay Library.
© Jim Merritt; Cornell Lab of Ornithology | Macaulay Library
Cassin's Sparrow (Peucaea cassinii). © Derek Lecy; Cornell Lab of Ornithology | Macaulay Library.
© Derek Lecy; Cornell Lab of Ornithology | Macaulay Library
Cassin's Sparrow (Peucaea cassinii). © Trevor Ambrico; Cornell Lab of Ornithology | Macaulay Library.
© Trevor Ambrico; Cornell Lab of Ornithology | Macaulay Library
Cassin's Sparrow (Peucaea cassinii). © Kenta Togo; Cornell Lab of Ornithology | Macaulay Library.
© Kenta Togo; Cornell Lab of Ornithology | Macaulay Library
Cassin's Sparrow (Peucaea cassinii). © Chris Miller; Cornell Lab of Ornithology | Macaulay Library.
© Chris Miller; Cornell Lab of Ornithology | Macaulay Library
Cassin's Sparrow (Peucaea cassinii). © Joshua Ward; Cornell Lab of Ornithology | Macaulay Library.
© Joshua Ward; Cornell Lab of Ornithology | Macaulay Library
Cassin's Sparrow (Peucaea cassinii). Photo by U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service, Public Domain (U.S. Government Work), via ECOS.
U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service, https://www.usa.gov/government-works
Identity
Unique IDELEMENT_GLOBAL.2.102862
Element CodeABPBX91070
Record TypeSPECIES
ClassificationSpecies
Classification StatusStandard
Name CategoryVertebrate Animal
IUCNLeast concern
Endemicoccurs (regularly, as a native taxon) in multiple nations
KingdomAnimalia
PhylumCraniata
ClassAves
OrderPasseriformes
FamilyPasserellidae
GenusPeucaea
Synonyms
Aimophila cassinii(Woodhouse, 1852)
Other Common Names
Bruant de Cassin (FR) Zacatonero de Cassin (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/.
Taxonomic Comments
Formerly (e.g., AOU 1983, 1998) placed in the genus Aimophila, transferred to Peucaea by AOU (2010).
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: mainly southeastern Arizona, New Mexico (except northwest), central and northeastern Colorado, southwestern Nebraska, west-central Kansas, and western Oklahoma south to northern Mexico and central and southern Texas. NON-BREEDING: southeastern Arizona, southern New Mexico, western and south-central Texas and northern Mexico (AOU 1983).
Ecology & Habitat

Diagnostic Characteristics

See Kaufman (1989) for information on identification.

Habitat

Open grassland and short-grass plains with scattered bushes or shrubs, sagebrush, mesquite or yucca (AOU 1983). In southeastern Arizona, avoided recently burned grassland habitats (Southwest. Nat. 37:73). Nests on or near ground. May nest in grasses, in patch of ground cactus, at base of shrub, or in lower branches of bush or cactus.

Ecology

Territory size 1.7 to 3.3 hectares (Schnase 1984, Dunning et al. 1999).

Reproduction

Breeds July-August in southeastern Arizona (Maurer et al. 1989). Clutch size 3-5 (mean = 3 in southeastern Arizona). Young tended by both adults.
Terrestrial Habitats
Grassland/herbaceous
Other Nations (1)
United StatesN4N,N5B
ProvinceRankNative
New MexicoS4Yes
TexasS4BYes
OklahomaS2Yes
NebraskaS3Yes
WyomingSNRYes
ColoradoS4BYes
KansasS3BYes
ArizonaS4Yes
Roadless Areas (19)
Arizona (2)
AreaForestAcres
Middle Dragoon RoadlessCoronado National Forest10,543
WhetstoneCoronado National Forest20,728
New Mexico (17)
AreaForestAcres
Apache Kid ContiguousCibola National Forest67,542
Apache Kid ContiguousCibola National Forest67,542
Capitan MountainsLincoln National Forest14,069
Capitan MountainsLincoln National Forest14,069
Carrizo MountainLincoln National Forest17,280
Carrizo MountainLincoln National Forest17,280
Jefferies CanyonLincoln National Forest8,934
Jefferies CanyonLincoln National Forest8,934
Last Chance CanyonLincoln National Forest8,934
Last Chance CanyonLincoln National Forest8,934
Last Chance CanyonLincoln National Forest8,934
Peloncillo (NM)Coronado National Forest43,339
San JoseCibola National Forest16,950
San JoseCibola National Forest16,950
South Guadalupe MountainsLincoln National Forest20,930
South Guadalupe MountainsLincoln National Forest20,930
South Guadalupe MountainsLincoln National Forest20,930
References (25)
  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. American Ornithologists' Union (AOU). Chesser, R.T., R.C. Banks, F.K. Barker, C. Cicero, J.L. Dunn, A.W. Kratter, I.J. Lovette, P.C. Rasmussen, J.V. Remsen, Jr., J.D. Rising, D.F. Stotz, and K. Winker. 2010. Fifty-first supplement to the American Ornithologists' Union Check-list of North American Birds. The Auk 127(3):726-744.
  4. Balda, R. P., and G. C. Bateman. 1971. Flocking and annual cycle of the piñon jay, <i>Gymnorhinus cyanocephalus</i>. Condor 73:287-302.
  5. BirdLife International. 2004b. Threatened birds of the world 2004. CD ROM. BirdLife International, Cambridge, UK.
  6. Carter, M., C. Hunter, D. Pashley, and D. Petit. 1998. The Watch List. Bird Conservation, Summer 1998:10.
  7. Carter, M., G. Fenwick, C. Hunter, D. Pashley, D. Petit, J. Price, and J. Trapp. 1996. Watchlist 1996: For the future. Field Notes 50(3):238-240.
  8. Droege, S., and J.R. Sauer. 1990. North American Breeding Bird Survey, annual summary, 1989. U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Biological Report 90(8). 22 pp.
  9. Dunning, J. B., Jr., R. K. Bowers, Jr., S. J. Suter, and S. E. Bock. 1999. Cassin's Sparrow (AIMOPHILA CASSINII). No. 471 IN A. Poole and F. Gill, eds. The birds of North America. The Birds of North America, Inc., Philadelphia, PA. 32pp.
  10. Harrison, C. 1978. A Field Guide to the Nests, Eggs and Nestlings of North American Birds. Collins, Cleveland, Ohio.
  11. Horn, H. S. 1968. The adaptive significance of colonial nesting in the Brewer's Blackbird. Ecology 49:682-694.
  12. Kaufman, K. 1989. Cassin's and Botteri's sparrows. Birding 21:293-297.
  13. Ligon, J. D. 1971. Late summer-autumnal breeding of the piñon jay in New Mexico. Condor 73:147-153.
  14. Maurer, B. A., E. A. Webb, and R. K. Bowers. 1989. Nest characteristics and nestling development of Cassin's and Botteri's sparrows in southeastern Arizona. Condor 91:736-738.
  15. 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.
  16. Oberholser, H.C. 1974. The bird life of Texas. 2 vols. Univ. of Texas Press, Austin.
  17. 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.
  18. Phillips, A., J. Marshall, and G. Monson. 1964. The birds of Arizona. The University of Arizona Press, Tucson, AZ.
  19. 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.
  20. Schnase, J. L. 1984. The breeding biology of Cassin's Sparrow (AIMOPHILA CASSINII) in Tom Green County, Texas. M.S. thesis, Angelo State University, San Angelo, TX.
  21. 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.
  22. Terres, J. K. 1980. The Audubon Society encyclopedia of North American birds. Alfred A. Knopf, New York.
  23. Thompson, F. R., III. 1994. Temporal and spatial patterns of breeding brown-headed cowbirds in the midwestern United States. Auk 111:979-990.
  24. Williams, L. 1952b. Breeding behavior of the Brewer blackbird. Condor 54:3-47.
  25. Willson, M. F. 1966. Breeding ecology of the Yellow-headed Blackbird. Ecological Monographs 36:51-77.