CreatureData

Clay-colored sparrow

Spizella pallida (Swainson, 1832)

LCLeast Concernsongbirds

The clay-colored sparrow (Spizella pallida) is a species in the family Passerellidae, order Passeriformes. Recorded adults weigh 11.2 g to 11.8 g and live up to 6 years. Its IUCN Red List status is Least Concern.

Clay-colored sparrow (Spizella pallida)
Photo: goingslo on Flickr · CC BY 2.0 · Wikimedia Commons

Quick facts about the clay-colored sparrow

Weight
11.2 g – 11.8 gsrc for Weight
Length
Not recorded
Lifespan
6 yearssrc for Lifespan
Diet
Granivoresrc for Diet
Longest recorded lifespan
6.92 years
Main food
Not recorded
Habitat
shrublandsrc for Habitat
Egg incubation
12 dayssrc for Egg incubation
Young per litter or clutch
4src for Young per litter or clutch
Age at maturity
11 monthssrc for Age at maturity
Litters or clutches a year
1.5src for Litters or clutches a year
Lifestyle
Generalistsrc for Lifestyle
Migration
Migratorysrc for Migration
Conservation status
Least Concern (IUCN)src for Conservation status
Countries on record
Not recorded

Where does the clay-colored sparrow live?

Not recorded

What is the clay-colored sparrow?

Quoted from WikipediaCC BY-SA 4.0

The clay-colored sparrow or clay-coloured sparrow (Spizella pallida) is a small New World sparrow of North America.

Adults have light brown upperparts and pale underparts, with darker streaks on the back. They have a pale crown stripe on a dark brown crown, a white line over the eyes, a dark line through the eyes, a light brown cheek patch and brown wings with wing bars. The short bill is pale with a dark tip and the back of the neck is grey; they have a long tail. Non-breeding adults and immature resemble chipping sparrows and Brewer's sparrows; they often form flocks with these birds outside the nesting season.

Their breeding habitat is shrubby open areas and jack pine woods across central Canada and central northern United States east to the Great Lakes, and is expanding further eastward. The nest is an open cup on the ground or low in a shrub.

These birds migrate in flocks to southern Texas and Mexico.

They forage on the ground, mainly eating seeds and insects. Outside the nesting season, they often feed in small flocks. While nesting, these birds may feed far from the nest; feeding areas are not defended.

The male sings from an open perch to indicate his ownership of the nesting territory. The song is a Bzzzz bzzzz za za.

This bird's nests are made of grasses and lined with fine materials or hair. Three to five splotched blue-green eggs are laid and incubated for 11 days. They are often parasitized by the brown-headed cowbird; the nest may be abandoned when this happens.

From the Wikipedia article “Clay-colored sparrow” (en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Clay-colored_sparrow&oldid=1321188949), by Wikipedia contributors, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0 (creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0). This block is kept separate from our own text.

Is the clay-colored sparrow endangered?

The clay-colored sparrow is listed as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List: it is not currently at risk of extinction.

  1. LCLeast Concern
  2. NTNear Threatened
  3. VUVulnerable
  4. ENEndangered
  5. CRCritically Endangered
  6. EWExtinct in the Wild
  7. EXExtinct

Category via Wikidata (CC0). Find the full assessment on the IUCN Red List. See all Least Concern species. What the categories mean.

How is the clay-colored sparrow classified?

  1. kingdomAnimalia
  2. phylumChordata
  3. classAves
  4. orderPasseriformes
  5. familyPasserellidae
  6. genusSpizella
  7. SpeciesSpizella pallida (Swainson, 1832)

Synonyms Emberiza pallida

Other names and names in other languages (37)
  • Clay-coloured sparrowEnglish
  • Clay-coloured sparrowEnglish
  • Sit pàl·lidCatalan
  • sit de les planesCatalan
  • strnádka pruhohlaváCzech
  • bras llwydaiddWelsh
  • Hvidbrynet TræspurvDanish
  • FahlammerGerman
  • pala pasereloEsperanto
  • Gorrión pálidoSpanish
  • Chingolo pálidoSpanish
  • sirkkasirkkuliFinnish
  • bruant des plainesFrench
  • Bruantin des plainesFrench
  • sivovrati strnadarCroatian
  • agyagszínű verébsármányHungarian
  • Passero argillaItalian
  • Passero color argillaItalian
  • ウスヒメドリJapanese
  • blyškioji žvirblinė startaLithuanian
  • blāvais zvirbulisLatvian
  • Bleke GorsDutch
  • grånakkespurvNorwegian
  • spizela bladaPolish
  • Pardal-pálidoPortuguese
  • tico-tico-argilosoPortuguese
  • tico-tico-pálidoPortuguese
  • Бурая овсянкаRussian
  • Бледная воробьиная овсянкаRussian
  • Бледная малая овсянкаRussian
  • strnádlik bledýSlovak
  • Vrapcoliki strnadSerbian
  • lerfärgad sparvSwedish
  • Kil Rengi SerçeTurkish
  • карнатка блідаUkrainian
  • 褐雀鹀Chinese
  • 泥色雀鵐Chinese

Catalogue of LifeWikipediaiNaturalistTAXREFWikidataWoRMSIUCN Red List

Relatives of the clay-colored sparrow

Other species in the same genus Spizella.

CompareClay-colored sparrow vs Chipping sparrowClay-colored sparrow vs Brewer's sparrowClay-colored sparrow vs Field sparrowClay-colored sparrow vs Black-chinned sparrow

Common questions

Answered only where our data holds the answer.

How big is the clay-colored sparrow?

An adult clay-colored sparrow weighs 11.2 g – 11.8 g, according to values recorded on Wikidata.

Is the clay-colored sparrow endangered?

The clay-colored sparrow is listed as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List, meaning it is not currently at risk of extinction.

How long does the clay-colored sparrow live?

The clay-colored sparrow has a recorded lifespan of 6 years.

What kind of animal is the clay-colored sparrow?

The clay-colored sparrow (Spizella pallida) belongs to the family Passerellidae in the order Passeriformes.

Sources and how to cite this page

Data as of 2026-11-11. How this page is put together.

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APA

CreatureData. (2026). Clay-colored sparrow (Spizella pallida). Retrieved from https://creaturedata.com/animals/clay-colored-sparrow

MLA

“Clay-colored sparrow (Spizella pallida).” CreatureData, 2026, https://creaturedata.com/animals/clay-colored-sparrow.

BibTeX
@misc{clay_colored_sparrow_2026,
  title = {Clay-colored sparrow (Spizella pallida)},
  author = {{CreatureData}},
  year = {2026},
  url = {https://creaturedata.com/animals/clay-colored-sparrow},
  note = {Data as of 2026-11-11}
}