This is the first time a sparrow has been featured as the Item of the Month. In Sibley’s Field Guide to Birds of Western North America, there are 30 species of sparrows not counting all the sub-species. I picked a sparrow that is easy to identify if you can catch him sitting still for a minute like I caught this one out in the open.

Description:  This sparrow has a fairly long tail, light underparts and face with a dark line through eye to the bill. The head is topped off with a rusty crown. They can be confused with many other sparrows. Look for a gray rump when it flies.  

Habitat:   It likes open woodlands and edges that have grassy areas like parks.

Nesting:  The female builds an open cup nest of grass and stems lined with hair, usually in a conifer usually not too far from the ground. She lays a clutch 3 to 5 greenish-blue eggs spotted with brown. While she incubates she is fed by the male.

Diet:   They are a ground feeder that forages mainly for grass seeds, but in the summer will eat insects. They sometimes come to backyard bird feeders. The nestlings are fed a 100% diet of insects.

Range: They are found throughout North America

Interesting Facts: 

They can subsist on dry seeds without water for up to three weeks. Their nest is so flimsy that light can be seen through it. During the breeding season, the female develops a bare patch on her abdomen that fills with fluid. This allows more efficient transfer of heat to the eggs. A group of Chipping Sparrows are collectively known as a "tournament" of sparrows