Spizella breweri breweri
Status: Uncommon regular spring and fall migrant west, rare casual central and east. Fairly common regular breeder western Panhandle.
Documentation: Specimen: UNSM ZM7444, 12 Jul 1901 Indian Creek, Sioux Co.
Taxonomy: There are two subspecies generally recognized (Pyle 1997, Gill et al 2022): taverneri, breeding from southeast Alaska and western Canada to northwestern US, and breweri, breeding from south-central Canada to west-central USA, although some authors consider subspecies taverneri a full species, Timberline Sparrow, as proposed by Klicka et al (1999).
Nebraska birds are breweri.
There are two records in eBird of hybrid Brewer’s Sparrow x Clay-colored Sparrow, one of which is for Lincoln Co, Colorado (eBird.org, accessed Dec 2023).
Spring: Apr 23, 25, 26 <<<>>> summer
An earlier date is 12 Apr 2024 Kimball Co.
Arrival is in early May. Migrants occur primarily in the western Panhandle and occasionally eastward to Sheridan (Rosche 1982), Lincoln, Keith, and Dundy Cos, and one was near Haigler, Dundy Co 21 May 2009.
- High counts: 70 in Banner and Kimball Cos 18 May 2008, and 24 in Banner Co 6 May 2000.
Summer: The core breeding range in Nebraska is limited to high plains grasslands in the western Panhandle, usually where western sagebrush (Artemisia tridentata subsp.) and greasewood (Sarcobatus vermiculatus) occur (Rosche 1982). Breeding in western Box Butte Co occurs near Kilpatrick Lake (Rosche 1994); several nesting pairs were in sand sage prairie there 29 Jun 2006 (Mollhoff 2006, 2016), and a family group of six was there 6 Jul 2024. Two singing males were found in southwest Kimball Co 16 Jun 1997 in atypical habitat, one in a young hedgerow in Conservation Reserve Program (CRP) bromegrass (Bromus sp.) and the other in roadside clumps of CRP bromegrass; two were using CRP grasslands in Kimball Co 18 Jun 2004. Good counts long Henry Road, Sioux Co are 17 on 24 Jun 2024, and 16 on 5-9 Jun 2023.
An older record of interest was described by Mollhoff (2022) in which 36 nests were discovered 1914-1916 by Gates and Swenk during a pollination study in hay fields at the University of Nebraska Experimental Station near Mitchell, Scotts Bluff Co.
In recent years there have been reports further east in the Panhandle and southwest. Singing males were present in a disjunct northward extension of sandy grassland about three miles south of Chappell, Deuel Co 12 Jun 1976 (Faanes et al 1979), and there is a summer report 11 Jul 1992 Cheyenne Co. An adult was carrying food in Dundy Co 21 Jul 2000. There is a breeding season report for Morrill Co 2006-2011 (Mollhoff 2016), and four were near Angora, Morrill Co 23 Jun 2021. One at Scotts Bluff NM, Scotts Bluff Co 21 Jun 2021 was a bit out of place.
Summer reports at likely breeding locations are 22 Jun 1973, 7 Aug 1992, and 17 Jul 1994 Dawes Co, and two were near Box Butte Res, Dawes Co 2 Jun 2008. There are Jun-early Aug specimens from Scotts Bluff Co 1913-16 (UNSM ZM7439, ZM7441, ZM7443, ZM7440), and Kimball Co in 1919 (UNSM ZM7442).
Mollhoff (2016) reported a small increase, from six to 10, in the number of BBA blocks for which the species was reported between the first (1984-1989) and the second BBA projects (2006-2011), but overall observer effort also increased markedly between the first and second BBA projects. BBS trend analysis (Sauer et al 2020) shows the species has declined annually by -9.46% (95% C.I.; -17.45, -1.82) during 1966-2019; this analysis has limitations, however, because of the small number of BBS routes on which the species is reported. The Second Colorado BBA (CBAP 2016) did, however, suggest the species is declining at the eastern edge of its range in the Great Plains.
- Breeding phenology:
Eggs: 8 Jun- 28 Jul (Mollhoff 2022)
Fledglings: 6 Jul-12 Aug
Fall: summer <<<>>> Sep 26, 26, 27
Later dates are 2 Oct 2022 Kimball Co, 8 Oct 2019 (two locations) Lincoln Co, 9 Oct 2019 Brady, Lincoln Co, 10 Oct 2023 Gering WTP, Scotts Bluff Co, 16 Oct 2022 Dawes Co, and 25 Oct 2014 Scotts Bluff Co.
Departure is mostly in mid-Sep. Migrants are reported farther eastward in fall than in spring, occurring east to Sheridan, Keith, Lincoln, and Dundy Cos. Sheridan Co reports are 29 Aug 2014, 23 Sep 2018 (3), and one at Smith Lake WMA 26 Sep 2007. Rosche (1994) stated it was an “uncommon migrant” Jul-Aug 1977 in Keith Co. Two reports cited by Tout (1947) were for Lincoln Co 6 Sep 1937 and 6 Oct 1926, and one was at Sutherland Reservoir, Lincoln Co 19 Aug 2005.
Reports in late Jul and early Aug where breeding is not expected are of early migrants. Small flocks form as early as early to mid-July, perhaps late June, and disperse into sagebrush habitats (Steven Mlodinow, personal communication) and sometimes nearby non-sagebrush areas. Such reports are 20 Jul 2022 along Hiway 71 just north of Kimball, Kimball Co, 21 Jul 2012 Sowbelly Canyon, Sioux Co, one at Montz Point WMA, Scotts Bluff Co 30 Jul 2022, several at Wind Springs Ranch, southern Sioux Co 30 Jul 2001 and another there 9 Aug 2012 that may have been displaced by extreme drought conditions that year, and one near Blue Creek, Garden Co 10 Aug 2022.
The only documented reports east of the Panhandle are specimens UNSM ZM7432, taken at Long Pine, Brown Co 20 Aug 1919, and HMM 28373, one at Rock Creek SRA, Dundy Co 29 Aug 2021, one photographed at North Platte, Lincoln Co 4 Sep 2022, one photographed in Lancaster Co 5 Sep 2024, one at Lake Ogallala, Keith Co 25 Sep 2024, one photographed in Lancaster Co 26-27 Sep 2020 (Willison, Kruse, eBird.org), a female taken at North Platte, Lincoln Co 3 Oct 1954, and singles at three locations in Lincoln Co 8-9 Oct 2019.
- High counts: 50 in Scotts Bluff and Banner Cos 3 Sep 2000, 45 in southwest Kimball Co 22 Aug 1999, and 42 there 29 Aug 1998.
Comments: Wayne Mollhoff provided information (personal communication) from notes made by L. M. Gates of a visit to Scotts Bluff Co in 1913 with Swenk in which five nests of Brewer’s Sparrows (originally thought to be Clay-colored Sparrows) were observed at the University Experiment Station Farm. There are no recent breeding records from Scotts Bluff Co.
Images
Abbreviations
BBA: Breeding Bird Atlas
BBS: Breeding Bird Survey
CBAP: Colorado Bird Atlas Partnership
HMM: Hastings Municipal Museum
NM: National Monument
SRA: State Recreation Area
UNSM: University of Nebraska State Museum
WMA: Wildlife Management Area (State)
Literature Cited
Colorado Bird Atlas Partnership [CBAP]. 2016. The Second Colorado Breeding Bird Atlas online database. Colorado Bird Atlas Partnership, Denver, Colorado, USA.
Faanes, C.A., B.A. Hanson, and H.A. Kantrud. 1979. Cassin’s Sparrow- first record for Wyoming and recent range extensions. Western Birds 10: 163-164.
Gill, F., D. Donsker, and P. Rasmussen (Eds). 2022. IOC World Bird List (v 12.2). Doi 10.14344/IOC.ML.12.2. http://www.worldbirdnames.org/.
Klicka, J., R.M. Zink, J.C. Barlow, W.B. McGillivray, and T.J. Doyle. 1999. Evidence Supporting the Recent Origin and Species Status of the Timberline Sparrow. The Condor 101: 577–588. https://doi.org/10.2307/1370187.
Mollhoff, W.J. 2006. The 2006 Nebraska nest report. NBR 74: 142-147.
Mollhoff, W.J. 2016. The Second Nebraska Breeding Bird Atlas. Bull. Univ. Nebraska State Museum Vol 29. University of Nebraska State Museum, Lincoln, Nebraska, USA.
Mollhoff, W.J. 2022. Nest records of Nebraska birds. Nebraska Ornithologists’ Union Occasional Paper Number 9.
Pyle, P. 1997. Identification Guide to North American Birds. Part I, Columbidae to Ploceidae. Slate Creek Press, Bolinas, California, USA.
Rosche, R.C. 1982. Birds of northwestern Nebraska and southwestern South Dakota, an annotated checklist. Cottonwood Press, Crawford, Nebraska, USA.
Rosche, R.C. 1994. Birds of the Lake McConaughy area and the North Platte River valley, Nebraska. Published by the author, Chadron, Nebraska, USA.
Sauer, J.R., W.A. Link and J.E. Hines. 2020. The North American Breeding Bird Sruvey – Analysis Results 1966-2019. U.S. Geological Survey data release, https://doi.org/10.5066/P96A7675, accessed 27 Jul 2023.
Tout, W. 1947. Lincoln County birds. Published by the author, North Platte, Nebraska, USA.
Recommended Citation
Silcock, W.R., and J.G. Jorgensen. 2024. Brewer’s Sparrow (Spizella breweri). In Birds of Nebraska — Online. www.BirdsofNebraska.org
Birds of Nebraska – Online
Updated 16 Dec 2024