Fox sparrow

Fox sparrow
Red fox sparrow (P. i. iliaca), Whitby, Ontario
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Aves
Order: Passeriformes
Family: Emberizidae
Genus: Passerella
Swainson, 1837
Species: P. iliaca
Binomial name
Passerella iliaca
(Merrem, 1786)
Breeding ranges of the four fox sparrow groups

The fox sparrow (Passerella iliaca) is a large American sparrow. It is the only member of the genus Passerella, although some authors split the genus into four species (see below).

Taxonomy

More specific information regarding plumage is available in the accounts for the various taxa.

Description

Passerella-iliaca call
Call

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Adults are amongst the largest sparrows, heavily spotted and streaked underneath. All feature a messy central breast spot though it is less noticeable on the thick billed and slate-colored varieties. Plumage varies markedly from one group to another.

Behavior

These birds forage by scratching the ground, which makes them vulnerable to cats and other predators, though they are generally plentiful. Fox sparrows migrate on the west coast of the United States.

Diet

They mainly eat seeds and insects, as well as some berries. Coastal fox sparrows may also eat crustaceans.

Reproduction

Fox sparrows nest in wooded areas across northern Canada and the west coast of North America from Alaska to California. They nest either in a sheltered location on the ground or low in trees or shrubs. A nest typically contains two to five pale green to greenish white eggs speckled with reddish brown.[2]

Systematics

The review by Zink & Weckstein (2003),[3] which added mtDNA cytochrome b, NADH dehydrogenase subunit 2 and 3, and D-loop sequence, confirmed the four "subspecies groups"[4] of the fox sparrow that were outlined by the initial limited mtDNA haplotype comparison (Zink 1994).[5] These should probably be recognized as separate species, but this was deferred for further analysis of hybridization. Particularly the contact zones between the slate-colored and thick-billed fox sparrows which are only weakly distinct morphologically were of interest; the other groups were found to be distinct far earlier.[6]

The combined molecular data is unable to resolve the interrelationship of the subspecies group and of subspecies in these, but aids in confirming the distinctness of the thick-billed group.[3] Biogeography indicates that the coastal populations were probably isolated during an epoch of glaciation of the Rocky Mountains range, but this is also not very helpful in resolving the remaining problems of within-group diversity, and inter-group relationships.

References

  1. BirdLife International (2012). "Passerella iliaca". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Version 2013.2. International Union for Conservation of Nature. Retrieved 26 November 2013.
  2. Ehrlich, Paul R.; Dobkin, David S.; Wheye, Darryl (1988). The Birder's Handbook: A Field Guide to the Natural History of North American Birds. New York: Simon and Schuster, Fireside. p. 596. ISBN 0-671-65989-8.
  3. 1 2 Zink, Robert M.; Weckstein, Jason D. (2003). "Recent evolutionary history of the Fox Sparrows (Genus: Passerella)". Auk 48 (120(2)): 522–527. doi:10.1642/0004-8038(2003)120[0522:REHOTF]2.0.CO;2.
  4. Not defined by the ICZN
  5. Zink, Robert M. (1994). "The Geography of Mitochondrial DNA Variation, Population Structure, hybridization, and Species Limits in the Fox Sparrow (Passerella iliaca)". Evolution 48 (1): 96–111. doi:10.2307/2410006.
  6. Swarth, H. W. (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.

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Passerella iliaca.
Wikispecies has information related to: Passerella iliaca

Further reading

Book

Theses

Articles

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