Rufous-winged sparrow Aimophila carpalis

Identification Tips:

• Length: 5.25 inches
• Yellowish, conical bill
• Rusty crown
• Grayish face and supercilium
• Brown streak extends behind eye
• Brown back with darker streaks
• Rusty wings, especially shoulder
• Underparts pale gray
• Long, brown tail
• Sexes similar
• Juvenile (Spring and Summer) has brown, streaked crown, dark cheeks and buffy breast with diffuse streaks
• Inhabits desert grasslands in southern Arizona

Similar species:

The Rufous-winged Sparrow can be told from the Rufous-crowned Sparrow by its rusty shoulder, paler underparts, thinner malar streak and different song. Other sparrows with rusty crowns (Chipping, Field, American Tree, Swamp) are smaller with different markings.

Length and wingspan from: Robbins, C.S., Bruun, B., Zim, H.S., (1966). Birds of North America. New York: Western Publishing Company, Inc.