Rufous-crowned Sparrow
3240833
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2008-06-10T16:35:48Z
Rufous-crowned Sparrow
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/* Distribution and habitat */ defend the territory
{{Taxobox
| name = Rufous-crowned Sparrow
| image = AimophilaRuficeps.svg
| status = LC
| status_ref=<ref name="IUCN">{{IUCN2006|assessors=BirdLife International|year=2004|id=53584|title=Aimophila ruficeps|downloaded=[[12 May]] [[2006]]}}</ref>
| status_system = iucn3.1
| regnum = [[Animal]]ia
| phylum = [[Chordate|Chordata]]
| classis = [[bird|Aves]]
| ordo = [[passerine|Passeriformes]]
| familia = [[Emberizidae]]
| genus = ''[[Aimophila]]''
| species = '''''A. ruficeps'''''
| binomial = ''Aimophila ruficeps''
| binomial_authority = ([[John Cassin|Cassin]], 1852)
}}
The '''Rufous-crowned Sparrow''', ''Aimophila ruficeps'', is a medium-sized [[American sparrow|sparrow]]. This [[passerine]] is primarily found across the [[Southwestern United States]] and much of the interior of [[Mexico]], south to the [[Cordillera Neovolcanica|transverse mountain range]], and to the Pacific coast to the southwest of the transverse range. In the [[Midwestern United States|midwestern]] USA, the sparrow is found throughout central [[Oklahoma]], and as far east as a small part of western [[Arkansas]]; its also found in a small region of northeastern [[Kansas]], its most northeastern range.
==Taxonomy==
The Rufous-crowned Sparrow was described in 1852 by [[John Cassin]] as ''Ammodramus ruficeps''.<ref name = Byers/> The derivation of the current genus name, ''[[Aimophila]]'', is from ''aimos''/αιμος 'thicket' and ''phila''/φιλα 'loving'.<ref>{{cite book |title=Dictionary of Birds of the United States: Scientific and Common Names |author=Holloway JE|year=2003 |publisher=Timber Press |location=Portland, Oregon |isbn=0881926000 |pages=p. 17}}</ref> Its specific epithet is a literal derivation of its common name, derived from the [[Latin]] words ''rufus'' 'rufous' and ''-ceps'', from ''caput'' 'head'.<ref>{{cite book | last = Simpson | first = D.P. | title = Cassell's Latin Dictionary | publisher = Cassell Ltd. | date = 1979 | edition = 5 | location = London | pages = 883 | id = ISBN 0-304-52257-0}}</ref> The bird is also occasionally referred to colloquially as the Rock Sparrow because of its preference to live on rocky slopes.<ref name="Thorngate"/>
===Subspecies===
12 subspecies are generally recognized, though sometimes up to 18 are named.<ref name=" MBR "/>
*''A. r. ruficeps'', the [[Subspecies#Nomenclature|nominate subspecies]], was described by John Cassin in 1852.<ref name=" MBR "/> It is found in the coastal ranges of [[California]] and on the western slopes of the [[Sierra Nevada (U.S.)|Sierra Nevada]].<ref name=" Clements ">{{cite book| last = Clements| first = James F| authorlink = James F. Clements | title = The Clements Checklist of Birds of the World Sixth Edition| publisher = Comstock Publishing Associates| date = 2007| location = Ithaca, NY| pages = 681-682| isbn = 978-0-8014-4501-9}}</ref>
*''A. r. canescens'' was described by [[Walter Edmond Clyde Todd|W.E. Clyde Todd]] in 1922.<ref name=" MBR "/> It is found in southwestern California and northeast [[Baja California]] as far east as the base of the [[San Pedro Martir]].<ref name=" Clements "/> While the species itself is listed as of Least Concern, this subspecies is listed as a species of special concern by the [[California Department of Fish and Game]].<ref name=" Thorngate "/>
*''A. r. obscura'' was described by Donald R. Dickey and Adriaan Van Rossem in 1923.<ref name=" MBR "/> It is found on the [[Channel Islands]] of [[Santa Cruz]], [[Anacapa]], and formerly [[Santa Catalina]].<ref name=" Clements "/><ref name=" Thorngate ">{{cite web| last = Thorngate| first = Nellie | coauthors = Monika Parsons | title = California Partners in Flight Coastal Scrub and Chaparral Bird Conservation Plan Rufous-crowned Sparrow (Aimophila ruficeps) | publisher = California Partners in Flight | date = 2005 | url = http://www.prbo.org/calpif/htmldocs/species/scrub/rufous_crowned_sparrow.htm| accessdate =2008-01-19 }}</ref> While the Santa Catalina population has not been observed since 1863, the subspecies seems to have recently colonized Anacapa Island.<ref name=" Thorngate "/>
*''A. r. sanctorum'' was described by Adriaan Van Rossem in 1947.<ref name=" MBR "/> It is found on the [[Todos Santos Islands]] off the coast of northwest Baja California.<ref name=" Clements "/> However, this subspecies has not been seen since the 1970s.<ref name=" Thorngate "/>
*''A. r. sororia'' was described by [[Robert Ridgway]] in 1898.<ref name=" MBR "/> It is found in the mountains of southern Baja California, specifically the [[Sierra de la Laguna]].<ref name=" Clements "/>
*''A. r. scottii'' was described by George Sennett in 1888.<ref name=" MBR "/> It is found from northern [[Arizona]] to [[New Mexico]] south to northeastern [[Sonora]] and northwestern [[Coahuila]].<ref name=" Clements "/>
*''A. r. rupicola'' was described by Adriaan Van Rossem in 1946.<ref name=" MBR "/> It is found in the mountains of southwestern Arizona.<ref name=" Clements "/>
*''A. r. simulans'' was described by Adriaan Van Rossem in 1934.<ref name=" MBR "/> It is found in northwestern Mexico from sotheastern Sonora and southwestern [[Chihuahua]] to [[Nayarit]] and northern [[Jalisco]].<ref name=" Clements "/>
*''A. r. eremoeca'' was described by [[N. C. Brown]] in 1882.<ref name=" MBR "/> It is found from southeastern Colorado to New Mexico, [[Texas]], northern Chihuahua, and central Coahuila.<ref name=" Clements "/>
*''A. r. fusca'' was described by [[Edward William Nelson]] in 1897.<ref name=" MBR "/> It is found in western Mexico from southern Nayarit to southwestern Jalisco, northern [[Colima]], and [[Michoacan]].<ref name=" Clements "/>
*''A. r. boucardi'', described by [[Philip Sclater]] in 1867,<ref name=" MBR "/> is found in eastern Mexico from southern Coahuila to [[San Luis Potosi]], northern [[Puebla]], and southern [[Oaxaca]].<ref name=" Clements "/>
*''A. r. australis'' was described by Edward William Nelson in 1897,<ref name=" MBR "/> and occurs in southern Mexico from [[Guerrero]] to southern Puebla and Oaxaca.<ref name=" Clements "/>
==Description==
The Rufous-crowned Sparrow is a medium-sized sparrow at {{convert|5.25|in|cm|.01|...}} in length.<ref name=" MBR ">{{cite web| last = Gough| first = Gregory| title = Rufous-crowned sparrow Aimophila ruficeps| work = Patuxent Bird Identification InfoCenter| publisher =USGS Patuxent Wildlife Research Center | date = 2000-12-28| url = http://www.mbr-pwrc.usgs.gov/Infocenter/i5800id.html| accessdate =2007-01-18 }}</ref> It has brown back with darker streaks and gray underparts. Its wings are brown and do not have wingbars. The sparrow's tail is long, brown, and rounded. The face and [[supercilium]] are gray with a brown or rufous steak extending from each eye and a thick black [[malar]] streak.<ref name=" MBR "/> This sparrow also has rusty crown which gives it its common name.<ref name=" MBR "/> The bill is yellow and conical shaped.<ref name=" MBR "/> Its legs and feet are pink-gray. Both sexes are similar in appearance, but the juvenile Rufous-crowned Sparrow has a brown crown and numerous streaks on its breast and flanks from spring to fall.<ref name=" MBR "/> The song is a short, fast, bubbling series of ''chip'' notes, and the calls include a nasal ''chur'' and a thin ''tsi''.<ref name=Byers>{{cite book | last = Byers | first = Clive | coauthors= Curson, Jon; Olsson, Urban |title = Sparrows and Buntings: A Guide to the Sparrows and Buntings of North America and the World | year = 1995 | publisher = Pica Press| isbn =1873403194| pages = 296–7 }}</ref>
==Distribution and habitat==
[[Image:Chaparral California.jpg|thumb|right|[[California]] [[chaparral]], an area in which the Rufous-crowned Sparrow is found]]
This bird is found in the southwestern United States and Mexico from sea level up to 9,800 ft (3000 m).<ref name = Byers/> It lives in [[California]], southern [[Arizona]], southern [[New Mexico]], [[Texas]], and central [[Oklahoma]] south along [[Baja California]] and in western Mexico to southern [[Puebla]] and [[Oaxaca]]. The range of this species is discontinuous and is made up of many small, isolated populations in different locations.<ref name=" Thorngate "/> The Rufous-crowned Sparrow is a non-migratory species, though the mountain subspecies are known to descend to lower elevations during severe winters.<ref name=" Thorngate "/> Male sparrows maintain and defend their territories throughout the year.<ref name="Thorngate"/>
The sparrow is found in open oak woodlands and dry uplands with grassy vegetation and bushes. It is often found near rocky outcroppings. The species is also known from coastal shrublands and [[chaparral]] areas.<ref name= Byers/> The Rufous-crowned Sparrow thrives in the open areas that result from an area being burned.<ref name="Thorngate"/>
==Ecology and behavior==
The average territory size of Rufous-crowned Sparrows in the [[chaparral]] of California is {{convert|0.89|ha|acre|.01|...}} to {{convert|1.5|ha|acre|.01|...}}.<ref name=" Thorngate "/> The density of Rufous-crowned Sparrow territories ranges by habitat, including 2.5 to 5.8 territories per {{convert|40|ha|acre|.01|...}} of three to five year old burned chaparral to 3.9 to 6.9 territories for the same amount of coastal scrubland.<ref name=" Thorngate "/>
The Rufous-crowned Sparrow forages in pairs during the breeding season and in family-sized flocks in late summer and early fall. During the winter they can occasionally be found in loose mixed-species flocks.<ref name=" Thorngate "/>
===Diet===
This sparrow feeds primarily on small grass and [[forb]] seeds, fresh grass stems, and tender plant shoots during the fall and winter.<ref name=" Thorngate "/> During these seasons, insects such as [[ant]]s, [[grasshopper]]s, [[ground beetle]]s, and [[scale insect]]s make up a small part of its diet. In the spring and summer, the bird's diet includes both more insects and a more diverse array of species of insects.<ref name=" Thorngate "/>
The Rufous-crowned Sparrow forages on or near the ground by walking or hopping under shrubs or dense grasses.<ref name=" Thorngate "/> Though it occasionally forages in weedy areas, it is almost never observed foraging in the open. It has occasionally been observed feeding in branches and low shrubs.<ref name=" Thorngate "/> During the breeding season, it gleans its food from grasses and low shrubs.<ref name=" Thorngate "/> Normally the species obtains its food by either pecking or less frequently scratching at leaf litter.
It is unknown whether this species obtains all of its water from the food its eats or if it must drink; however, it has been observed both drinking and bathing in pools of water after rain storms.<ref name=" Thorngate "/>
===Reproduction===
The Rufous-crowned Sparrow breeds in successional scrubland. While it is not known when precisely the breeding season starts, the earliest that a sparrow has been observed carrying nesting material was on [[March 2]] in southern California.<ref name=" Thorngate "/> It builds a bulky, thick-walled open-cup nest typically on the ground, though occasionally in a low bush up to 45 centimeters above it, from dried grasses and rootlets, sometimes with strips of bark, small twigs, and weed stems.<ref name="Thorngate"/> Nests are well hidden, as they are built near bushes or tall grasses or overhanging rock with concealing vegetation.<ref name="Thorngate"/> Once a sparrow chooses a nesting site, it tends to return to the site for many years.<ref name="Thorngate"/> It lays between two and five eggs at a time and may raise two broods a year.<ref name=" MBR "/> Juveniles tend to leave their parent's territory and move into adjacent habitat in the fall or early winter.<ref name="Thorngate"/>
==Conservation==
The Rufous-crowned Sparrow is treated as a species of Least Concern by BirdLife International due to its large geographical range of about 320,000 mi² (1,200,000 km²), estimated population of 2.4 million individuals, and lack of a 30% decline overall in the species's population over the last ten years.<ref name=" BirdLife ">{{cite web | title = Species factsheet: Aimophila ruficeps| publisher = BirdLife International | date = 2007 | url = http://www.birdlife.org/datazone/species/index.html?action=SpcHTMDetails.asp&sid=9023&m=0| accessdate =2008-01-19 }}</ref> However, some of the local populations of this bird are threatened and declining in number.<ref name=" Thorngate "/> The island subspecies and populations have declined in some cases: ''A. r. sanctorum'' has not been seen on the Todos Santos Islands since the 1970s and the populations on Santa Catalina Island and Baja California's [[Islas de San Martin]] since the early 1900s.<ref name=" Thorngate "/> Populations of the species in southern California are also becoming more restricted in range because of urbanization and agricultural development in the region.<ref name=" Thorngate "/>
==References==<!-- Condor7:134 -->
{{reflist|2}}
==Further reading==
===Book===
* Collins, P. W. 1999. ''Rufous-crowned Sparrow (Aimophila ruficeps)''. In T''he Birds of North America'', No. 472 (A. Poole and F. Gill, eds.). The Birds of North America, Inc., Philadelphia, PA.
===Thesis===
* Groschupf KD. Ph.D. (1983). ''Comparative study of the vocalizations and singing behavior of four Aimophila sparrows''. Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, United States -- Virginia.
* Morrison SA. Ph.D. (2001). ''Demography of a fragmentation-sensitive songbird: Edge and ENSO effects''. Dartmouth College, United States -- New Hampshire.
* Wimer MC. M.S. (1995). ''Song variation in insular and mainland Rufous-crowned Sparrows''. California State University, Long Beach, United States -- California.
===Articles===
* Baptista LF. (1973). ''Leaf Bathing in 3 Species of Emberizines''. Wilson Bulletin. vol '''85''', no 3. p. 346-347.
* Behle WH. (1976). ''Mojave Desert Avi Fauna in the Virgin River Valley of Utah Nevada and Arizona USA''. Condor. vol '''78''', no 1. p. 40-48.
* Bolger DT. (2002). ''Habitat fragmentation effects on birds in southern California: Contrast to the "top-down" paradigm''. Studies in Avian Biology. vol '''25''', p. 141-157.
* Bolger DT, Patten MA & Bostock DC. (2005). ''Avian reproductive failure in response to an extreme climatic event''. [[Oecologia]]. vol '''142''', no 3. p. 398-406.
* Bolger DT, Scott TA & Rotenberry JT. (1997). ''Breeding bird abundance in an urbanizing landscape in coastal Southern California''. Conservation Biology. vol '''11''', no 2. p. 406-421.
* Borror DJ. (1971). ''Songs of Aimophila Sparrows Occurring in the USA''. Wilson Bulletin. vol '''83''', no 2. p. 132-151.
* Carson RJ & Spicer GS. (2003). ''A phylogenetic analysis of the emberizid sparrows based on three mitochondrial genes''. Molecular Phylogenetics & Evolution. vol '''29''', no 1. p. 43-57.
* Deviche P, McGraw K & Greiner EC. (2005). ''Interspecific differences in hematozoan infection in sonoran desert Aimophila sparrows''. Journal of Wildlife Diseases. vol '''41''', no 3. p. 532-541.
* Hardy JW. (1980). ''The Oaxaca Sparrow Aimophila-Notosticta Has a Chatter Vocalization''. Condor. vol '''82''', no 1.
* Hubbard JP. (1975). ''Geographic Variation in Non-California Populations of the Rufous Crowned Sparrow''. Nemouria. vol '''15''', p. 1-28.
* Miles DB. (1986). ''A Record of Brown-Headed Cowbird Molothrus-Ater Nest Parasitism of Rufous Crowned Sparrows Aimophila-Ruficeps''. Southwestern Naturalist. vol '''31''', no 2. p. 253-254.
* Morrison SA & Bolger DT. (2002). ''Lack of an urban edge effect on reproduction in a fragmentation-sensitive sparrow''. Ecological Applications. vol '''12''', no 2. p. 398-411.
* Morrison SA & Bolger DT. (2002). ''Variation in a sparrow's reproductive success with rainfall: Food and predator-mediated processes''. [[Oecologia]]. vol '''133''', no 3. p. 315-324.
* Morrison SA, Bolger DT & Sillett TS. (2004). ''Annual survivorship of the sedentary Rufous-crowned sparrow (Aimophila ruficeps): No detectable effects of edge or rainfall in southern California''. Auk. vol '''121''', no 3. p. 904-916.
* Parker SA & Stotz D. (1977). ''An Observation on the Foraging Behavior of the Arizona Ridge-Nosed Rattlesnake Crotalus-Willardi-Willardi Serpentes Crotalidae''. Bulletin of the Maryland Herpetological Society. vol '''13''', no 2.
* Patten MA & Bolger DT. (2003). ''Variation in top-down control of avian reproductive success across a fragmentation gradient''. Oikos. vol '''101''', no 3. p. 479-488.
* Pulliam HR & Mills GS. (1977). ''The Use of Space by Wintering Sparrows''. Ecology. vol '''58''', no 6. p. 1393-1399.
* Remsen JVJ & Cardiff S. (1979). ''Aimophila-Ruficeps-Scottii New-Record Rufous-Crowned Sparrow in California USA''. Western Birds. vol '''10''', no 1. p. 45-46.
* Spicer GS. (1977). ''2 New Nasal Mites of the Genus Ptilonyssus Mesostigmata Rhinonyssidae from Texas USA''. Acarologia. vol '''18''', no 4. p. 594-601.
==External links==
*[http://vireo.acnatsci.org/search.html?Form=Search&SEARCHBY=Common&KEYWORDS=rufous-crowned+sparrow&showwhat=images&AGE=All&SEX=All&ACT=All&Search=Search&VIEW=All&ORIENTATION=All&RESULTS=24 Rufous-crowned Sparrow photo gallery] VIREO
*[http://ibc.hbw.com/ibc/phtml/especie.phtml?idEspecie=9578 Rufous-crowned Sparrow videos] on the Internet Bird Collection
[[Category:Aimophila]]
[[Category:Birds of the United States|Sparrow, Rufous-crowned]]
[[Category:Native birds of the Southwestern United States|Sparrow, Rufous-crowned]]
[[Category:Native birds of the Plains-Midwest (United States)|Sparrow, Rufous-crowned]]
[[Category:Birds of Mexico|Sparrow, Rufous-crowned]]
[[Category:Birds of Sierra Madre Occidental|Sparrow, Rufous-crowned]]
[[Category:Birds of Sierra Madre Oriental|Sparrow, Rufous-crowned]]
[[Category:Birds of Cordillera Neovolcanica Mexico|Sparrow, Rufous-crowned]]<!-- the www.natureserve.org RangeMaps show: Oklahoma, Kansas, Arkansas, and the two Mountain ranges of Mexico: west: Sierra Madre Occidental, and east: Sierra Madre Oriental. the bird prefers only the mountains of Mexico (?) -->
[[es:Zacatonero corona rufa]]