Where’s Wildlife · Bird Field Guide
Fox Sparrow
Passerella iliaca
Pronounced (approx.): pass-er-EL-uh il-ee-AH-kuh
A large sparrow that searches for food by scratching through leaf litter. Its plumage varies across North America.
Three Identification Clues
A big, rounded sparrow with a sturdy bill and heavy markings below.
The red form commonly seen in the East has rusty plumage mixed with gray on the head.
Breast spots often run together into a central blotch; western forms can be much grayer or browner.
Field Photographs
Showing all 6 photographs.
Beyond the first impression
Plumage & Identification
Four regional looks
Cornell groups Fox Sparrows into Red, Sooty, Slate-colored, and Thick-billed forms. Red birds have rusty markings; Pacific coastal birds can be dark brown, while interior western birds may look gray. Thick-billed birds have especially substantial bills. Compare location and structure before rejecting an unfamiliar color pattern. [1]
Look beyond the breast spots
The round body, strong legs, and deep bill help separate this bird from smaller sparrows. Heavy markings often gather at the center of the breast, but a dark chest spot is not unique to this species. Use our Song Sparrow guide for comparison and check the entire bird. [1]
Life history
How This Bird Lives
Where to look
Watch the ground beneath a tangled woodland edge or streamside shrub. Many people encounter Fox Sparrows during migration or winter rather than on their northern or western breeding grounds. Moving leaves may reveal a feeding bird before its plumage becomes visible. [3]
Food & foraging
A short forward hop followed by a backward scrape with both feet exposes food beneath litter. Insects are especially important during breeding; seeds and other plant foods also feature in the diet. This double-scratch resembles the feeding movement of towhees, not the drilling of a woodpecker. [2]
A nest under cover
The cup usually sits on the ground beneath dense plants or low in a shrub or tree. Grasses, moss, bark, and other plant material form the structure. Nest construction is less thoroughly documented than in many familiar yard birds; the female is thought to do most or all of the building. [2]
The female incubates 2–5 eggs for roughly 12–14 days. Both parents feed the chicks, which leave the nest around 9–11 days after hatching. Please observe quietly without parting the vegetation around a suspected nest. [4]
Did you know?
A Closer Look at Fox Sparrows
Travel after dark
Fox Sparrows migrate at night. Their comparatively early spring and late fall movements can bring them through after, or before, many other seasonal songbirds. Local timing still varies. [4]
An ancient record
Pleistocene fossils have been found in Pennsylvania, Virginia, and California's La Brea tar pits. These remains add a much longer perspective than a modern winter feeder visit. [3]
A distraction, not necessarily an injury
An adult near its nest may act as though a wing is broken to draw a potential predator away. Back away from such behavior rather than following the bird or searching for the hidden young. [2]
Sources: [1] Cornell · Identification [2] Cornell · Life history [3] Cornell · Species overview [4] Audubon · Field guide
Range & Sightings
Seasonal Range
View Range Map ↗Recorded Observations
Observation records are not a complete seasonal range map.
iNaturalist observation map ↗