Rufous-collared sparrow
Zonotrichia capensis (P. L. S. Müller, 1776)
The rufous-collared sparrow (Zonotrichia capensis) is a species in the family Passerellidae, order Passeriformes. Recorded adults weigh 20.3 g to 21.2 g and live up to 5 years. Its IUCN Red List status is Least Concern.
Quick facts about the rufous-collared sparrow
- Weight
- 20.3 g – 21.2 gsrc for Weight
- Length
- Not recorded
- Wingspan
- 22 cmsrc for Wingspan
- Lifespan
- 5 yearssrc for Lifespan
- Diet
- Omnivoresrc for Diet
- Main food
- Not recorded
- Habitat
- shrublandsrc for Habitat
- Young per litter or clutch
- 2.8src for Young per litter or clutch
- Lifestyle
- Generalistsrc for Lifestyle
- Migration
- Sedentarysrc for Migration
- Conservation status
- Least Concern (IUCN)src for Conservation status
- Countries on record
- Not recorded
How big is the rufous-collared sparrow?
Photos of the rufous-collared sparrow
Only freely licensed photos are shown. Each carries its creator and licence.
Where does the rufous-collared sparrow live?
Not recorded
What is the rufous-collared sparrow?
The rufous-collared sparrow or Andean sparrow (Zonotrichia capensis) is an American sparrow found in a wide range of habitats, often near humans, from the extreme south-east of Mexico to Tierra del Fuego, and the island of Hispaniola in the Caribbean. It has diverse vocalizations, which have been intensely studied since the 1970s, particularly by Paul Handford and Stephen C. Lougheed (UWO), Fernando Nottebohm (Rockefeller University) and Pablo Luis Tubaro (UBA). Local names for this bird include the Portuguese tico-tico and mariquinha, the Aymara Pichitanka the Spanish copetón ("tufted") in Colombia, as well as chingolo and chincol, comemaíz "corn eater" in Costa Rica, chincol in Chile and Cigua de Constanza in the Dominican Republic.
From the Wikipedia article “Rufous-collared sparrow” (en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Rufous-collared_sparrow&oldid=1369165370), 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 rufous-collared sparrow endangered?
The rufous-collared sparrow is listed as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List: it is not currently at risk of extinction.
- LCLeast Concern
- NTNear Threatened
- VUVulnerable
- ENEndangered
- CRCritically Endangered
- EWExtinct in the Wild
- 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 rufous-collared sparrow classified?
- kingdomAnimalia
- phylumChordata
- classAves
- orderPasseriformes
- familyPasserellidae
- genusZonotrichia
- SpeciesZonotrichia capensis (P. L. S. Müller, 1776)
Synonyms Fringilla mortoni, Zonotrichia mortoni
Other names and names in other languages (50)
- Andean sparrowEnglish
- PichitankaAymara
- sit de clatell roigCatalan
- strnadec ranníCzech
- MorgenværlingDanish
- MorgenammerGerman
- rufkola pasereloEsperanto
- ChingoloSpanish
- AfrechitoSpanish
- ChincolSpanish
- Chingolo comúnSpanish
- Cigua de ConstanzaSpanish
- Come MaízSpanish
- CopetónSpanish
- CorreporsueloSpanish
- Gorrión chingoloSpanish
- Gorrión Collar RufoSpanish
- Gorrión RuficollarejoSpanish
- Pájaro CopetónSpanish
- PincheSpanish
- eteläamerikansirkkuFinnish
- Bruant chingoloFrench
- Bruantin chingoloFrench
- riđovrati strnadarCroatian
- Morgan-verébsármányHungarian
- Passero collorossiccioItalian
- Passero dal collare rossiccioItalian
- アカエリシトドJapanese
- andinė zonotrichijaLithuanian
- RoodkraaggorsDutch
- rustkragespurvNorwegian
- WawuyaPapiamento
- ChinchirinchiPapiamento
- ChochorogaiPapiamento
- ChonchorogaiPapiamento
- pasówka obrożnaPolish
- tico-ticoPortuguese
- tico-tico-comumPortuguese
- PaucarcoriQuechua
- Рыжегрудая зонотрихияRussian
- Рыжеошейниковая овсянкаRussian
- Рыжешейная зонотрихияRussian
- strnádlik golierikatýSlovak
- rdečevrati vrabonadiSlovenian
- Riđovrati strnadSerbian
- morgonsparvSwedish
- Kızıl Enseli SerçeTurkish
- бруант рудошиїйUkrainian
- 紅領帶鵐Chinese
- 红领带鹀Chinese
Catalogue of LifeWikipediaiNaturalistTAXREFWikidataIUCN Red List
Relatives of the rufous-collared sparrow
Other species in the same genus Zonotrichia.
White-crowned sparrow
Zonotrichia leucophrys
White-throated sparrow
Zonotrichia albicollis
Golden-crowned sparrow
Zonotrichia atricapilla
Harris's sparrow
Zonotrichia querula
CompareRufous-collared sparrow vs White-crowned sparrowRufous-collared sparrow vs White-throated sparrowRufous-collared sparrow vs Golden-crowned sparrowRufous-collared sparrow vs Harris's sparrow
Common questions
Answered only where our data holds the answer.
How big is the rufous-collared sparrow?
An adult rufous-collared sparrow weighs 20.3 g – 21.2 g and has a wingspan of 22 cm, according to values recorded on Wikidata.
Is the rufous-collared sparrow endangered?
The rufous-collared sparrow is listed as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List, meaning it is not currently at risk of extinction.
How long does the rufous-collared sparrow live?
The rufous-collared sparrow has a recorded lifespan of 5 years.
What kind of animal is the rufous-collared sparrow?
The rufous-collared sparrow (Zonotrichia capensis) 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.
- An amniote life-history database to perform comparative analyses with birds, mammals, and reptiles · CC0 1.0 · E096-269
Myhrvold, N.P., Baldridge, E., Chan, B., Sivam, D., Freeman, D.L. & Ernest, S.K.M. (2015) An amniote life-history database to perform comparative analyses with birds, mammals, and reptiles. Ecology 96: 3109. https://doi.org/10.1890/15-0846R.1. Data: https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.3563457.v1 - AVONET: morphological, ecological and geographical data for all birds · CC BY 4.0 · v7
Tobias, J.A. et al. (2022) AVONET: morphological, ecological and geographical data for all birds. Ecology Letters 25: 581–597. https://doi.org/10.1111/ele.13898. Data: https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.16586228.v7 - Catalogue of Life eXtended Release · CC BY 4.0 · 2026-10-16 XR
Catalogue of Life (2026). Catalogue of Life eXtended Release, version 2026-10-16 XR. Catalogue of Life Foundation, Amsterdam, Netherlands. https://doi.org/10.48580/dgzlf - Wikimedia Commons · per file (CC0 / public domain / CC BY green, CC BY-SA amber, anything else not displayed) · 2026-11-11
Wikimedia Commons contributors. Wikimedia Commons. https://commons.wikimedia.org (each file credited to its author under its own licence). - Wikidata · CC0 1.0 · 2026-11-11
Wikidata contributors. Wikidata. https://www.wikidata.org (data retrieved via the Wikidata Query Service). - Wikipedia (English) · CC BY-SA 4.0 · 2026-11-11
Wikipedia contributors. Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. https://en.wikipedia.org (text under CC BY-SA 4.0; each block names its article and revision).
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CreatureData. (2026). Rufous-collared sparrow (Zonotrichia capensis). Retrieved from https://creaturedata.com/animals/rufous-collared-sparrow
“Rufous-collared sparrow (Zonotrichia capensis).” CreatureData, 2026, https://creaturedata.com/animals/rufous-collared-sparrow.
@misc{rufous_collared_sparrow_2026,
title = {Rufous-collared sparrow (Zonotrichia capensis)},
author = {{CreatureData}},
year = {2026},
url = {https://creaturedata.com/animals/rufous-collared-sparrow},
note = {Data as of 2026-11-11}
}