From Opus

Photo by digishooter
Kelso Valley, California, USA, May, 2009

Amphispiza bilineata

[edit] Identification

13 cm (5.25in), 13.5g
Gray-brown above, white below, with striking black throat and breast; 2 conspicuous white stripes on sides of head, 1 above and 1 below the eye.
Sexes alike.
Juvenile has a white throat and streaked breast, reminscent of Sage Sparrow.

[edit] Distribution

Breeds from southern Oregon and Idaho southward to Baja California and central Mexico and central Texas. Also locally in Washington and central California.
Winters from southern Nevada and central Texas southward.

[edit] Taxonomy

Photo by rb_stern
Borrego Springs, California, USA

[edit] Subspecies

There are 10 subspecies, 4 of which are confined to islands in the Gulf of California^[1]:

• A. b. bilineata: North-central Texas to north-eastern Mexico (eastern Coahuila, Nuevo León and Tamaulipas)
• A. b. opuntia: South-eastern Colorado to eastern New Mexico, western Texas and north-western Coahuila
• A. b. deserticola: Arid west-central US to northern Baja, islands in Sea of Cortés and north-western Chihuahua
• A. b. bangsi: Cape District of southern Baja California and adjacent islands
• A. b. tortugae: Isla La Tortuga (Gulf of California)
• A. b. carmenae: Isla Carmen (Gulf of California)
• A. b. belvederei: Isla Cerralvo (Gulf of California)
• A. b. cana: Isla San Estéban (Gulf of California)
• A. b. pacifica: Arid north-western Mexico (southern Sonora, northern Sinaloa and Isla Tiburón)
• A. b. grisea: West-central Mexico (Chihuahua to southern Coahuila, northern Jalisco, south-western Tamaulipas)

[edit] Habitat

Arid uplands - common in canyons, badlands, flats, desert alluvial fans, washes and desert scrub, such as mesquite, ocotillo, chollo and sagebrush. Found in piñon-juniper forests at higher elevations (1,219–2,133 m).

[edit] Behaviour

This species has adapted itself well to a life in the extreme habitat of its home range and is very tolerant of the heat and drought.

After the rainy season, they scatter into small flocks

[edit] Diet

Consists of seeds vegetable matter and insects, which provide all the moisture they need, though they will take advantage of water holes when available.

[edit] Breeding

They raise their young in the dry upland desert.

[edit] Vocalisation

Song: a series of two opening notes followed by a buzz or trill, or sometimes several.

[edit] References

1. Clements, J. F., T. S. Schulenberg, M. J. Iliff, B.L. Sullivan, C. L. Wood, and D. Roberson. 2012. The eBird/Clements Checklist of Birds of the World. 6th ed., with updates to October 2012. Ithaca: Cornell Univ. Press. ISBN 978-0801445019. Spreadsheet available at http://www.birds.cornell.edu/clementschecklist/downloadable-clements-checklist
2. Black-throated Sparrow Species Account from the Cornell Lab of Ornithology
3. eNature

• List of references

[edit] External Links