Red Fox Sparrow

Taxobox
name = Red Fox Sparrow

---

image_width = 240px
image_caption = Probable Eastern Fox Sparrow
"Passerella iliaca iliaca"
status = NE
status_system = iucn3.1
regnum = Animalia
phylum = Chordata
classis = Aves
ordo = Passeriformes
familia = Emberizidae
genus = "Passerella"
species = "P. iliaca"
trinomial = "Passerella iliaca iliaca" group
trinomial_authority = (Merrem, 1786)
range_

range_map_width = 240px
range_map_caption = Breeding ranges of the four Fox Sparrow groups
subdivision_ranks = Subspecies
subdivision =
* "Passerella iliaca iliaca" Merrem, 1786
* "Passerella iliaca zaboria" Oberholser, 1946

Red Fox Sparrow is the collective name for the most brightly colored taxa in the American sparrow genus "Passerella", the "Passerella iliaca iliaca" group.

Taxonomy

Pending wider-spread acceptance of species status, the Red Fox Sparrow is currently classified as a "subspecies group" [Not defined by the ICZN] within Fox Sparrows.

It has long been suspected to be a separate evolutionary lineage due to morphological distinctness [Swarth (1920)] , and this is confirmed by analysis of mtDNA sequence and haplotype data.cite journal |author=Zink, Robert M. |title=The Geography of Mitochondrial DNA Variation, Population Structure, hybridization, and Species Limits in the Fox Sparrow ("Passerella iliaca") |year=1994 |journal=Evolution |volume=48 |issue = 1 |pages = 96-111 |doi = 10.2307/2410006 (HTML abstract, first page image) ] ,cite journal |author=Zink, Robert M. |coauthors = Kessen, A.E.|title=Species Limits in the Fox Sparrow |year=1999 |journal=Birding |volume=31 |pages = 508-517] This group appears to be most closely related to the Slate-colored Fox Sparrows [Zink & Weckstein (2003)] , but it altogether likely to represent the basalmost divergence of the fox sparrow cladeZink (1994)] .

Description

The Red Fox Sparrow is a large sparrow with a length of 15 - 19 centimeters (6-7.5 inches), wingspan of 27 centimeters (10.5 inches) and an average weight of 32 grams (1.1 oz).cite web |last=Kilgore |first=S |title="Passerella iliaca" |url=http://animaldiversity.ummz.umich.edu/site/accounts/information/Passerella_iliaca.html |year=2002 |work=Animal Diversity Web|publisher=University of Michigan Museum of Zoology |accessdate=2008-04-15] cite book |author=Sibley, David A. |title=National Audubon Society The Sibley Field Guide to Birds |year=2000 |publisher=Alfred A. Knopf |pages = 544 |location=New York |isbn=0-679-45122-6 ] The head is gray with a rufus crown auriculars or ear coverts.Throat is white with a rufus lateral stripe on each side. The lower bill is yellow while the top transitions from yellow at the bottom to black at the top. The breast has reddish brown streaks with a messy central spot. The streaks continue down the flanks but the belly is generally white. The combination of distinct rufus and gray streaks on the back with a gray rump is diagnostic. Sexes are morphologically similar.

Vocalization

Its voice is described as "a loud smack like Brown Thrasher" [Sibley (2000)] .

Behavior

Reproduction

Red Fox Sparrows breed in a wide band that stretches though mostly taiga habitat, from Newfoundland to northern Alaska. Their preferred breeding habitats are dense willow and alder thickets as well as spruce and fir bogs.

Red Fox Sparrows may nest on the ground, or in shrubs and trees. They typically nest less than 2 meters off the ground.cite web |title="Passerella iliaca" |last=Erin Koran |first=E |coauthors = Super, P|url=http://www.natureserve.org/explorer/servlet/NatureServe?searchName=Passerella+iliaca |year=2008 |work=NatureServe Explorer: An encyclopedia of Life|publisher=NatureServe |accessdate=2008-04-22] Clutch consists of 3-5 pale blue to pale green eggs that are thickly spotted with brown.cite book |title=The Audubon Society encyclopedia of North American Birds |last=Terres |first= J. K. |year=1980 |publisher=Alfred A. Knopf |location= New York|isbn=0-394-46651-9 |pages=343 ] Incubation lasts between 12 to 14 days. The eggs are mostly incubated by the female though both sexes feed the young. Young birds are altricial and fledge in 9 to 11 days.cite web |title=Passerella iliaca |url=http://www.dlia.org/atbi/species/Animalia/Chordata/Aves/Passeriformes/Emberizidae/Passerella_iliaca.shtml|year=2008 |work=Discover Life in America |publisher=Discover Life in America |accessdate=2008-04-22]

Wintering & Migration

They winter in temperate and subtropical North America; in the northern USA and southern Canada they often only stop over on their migration further south. The spring migration starts around February, and by early May almost all birds have returned to the breeding grounds. In fall, they start to move south around early October, and by mid-November, only the last stragglers still remain up North. [Henninger (1906), OOS (2004)] .

Ranges and Geographical Variation

Geographic variation in the "iliaca" complex is minor compared to individual variation, both in morphology and molecular data samples. The western Yukon Fox Sparrow ("Passerella iliaca zaboria") differs from the nominate subspecies, the Eastern Fox Sparrow ("Passerella iliaca iliaca") only in having a grayer head and browner malar stripe on average. The morphological distinction between the subspecies is not pronounced and the birds are not resident all year; therefore absolutely certain identification within the Red Fox Sparrow complex is never possible in the field [Beadle & Rising (2003)Verify source|date=July 2007] .

However, the populations occupy different ranges, apparently - as far as they can be distinguished - with just a small band of overlap. The contact zone is roughly the area between the Nelson and lower Churchill Rivers, Manitoba, in summer. In winter, the Mississippi River and the US states of Alabama and Georgia mark the approximate boundary between the subspecies' ranges. "P. i. iliaca" occurs from S Wisconsin and Ontario east to Massachusetts and then along the coast north to southern Canada; it ranges south to the Gulf of Mexico and N Florida, whereas "P. i. zaboria" occurs from SE Minnesota to the Great Plains, south to Texas and east to the zone of overlap mentioned above. [Weckstein "et al." (2002)]

Footnotes

References

* (2003): "Sparrows of the United States and Canada: the photographic guide". Princeton University Press, Princeton. ISBN 0-691-11747-0
* (1906): A preliminary list of the birds of Seneca County, Ohio. "Wilson Bull." 18(2): 47-60. [http://elibrary.unm.edu/sora/Wilson/DJVU/v018n02/P0047-P0060.djvu DjVu fulltext] [http://elibrary.unm.edu/sora/Wilson/v018n02/p0047-p0060.pdf PDF fulltext]
* (2004): Annotated Ohio state checklist. Version of April 2004. [http://www.ohiobirds.org/publications/OBRClist.pdf PDF fulltext]
* (2000): "The Sibley Guide to Birds". Alfred A. Knopf, New York. ISBN 0-679-45122-6
* (1920): Revision of the avian genus "Passerella" with special reference to the distribution and migration of the races in California. "University of California Publications in Zoology 21: 75–224.
* (2002): Fox Sparrow ("Passerella iliaca"). "In:" aut|Poole, A. & Gill, F. (eds.): "The Birds of North America" 715. Academy of Natural Sciences, Philadelphia, PA & American Ornithologists' Union, Washington, D.C. Online version, retrieved 2006-11-27. DOI|10.2173/bna.715 (requires subscription)
* (2003): Recent evolutionary history of the Fox Sparrows (Genus: "Passerella"). "Auk" 120(2): 522–527. [Article in English with Spanish abstract] DOI: 10.1642/0004-8038(2003)120 [0522:REHOTF] 2.0.CO;2 [http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qa3793/is_200304/ai_n9166839 HTML fulltext] (without images)