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Status: Population size: 3.7 million Photo by Cornell Laboratory of Ornithology.

Harris's Sparrow
(Zonotrichia querula)

This species was on the 2002 WatchList, but is not on the 2007 WatchList. Please refer to http://web1.audubon.org/science/species/watchlist/techReport.php for information on the 2007 WatchList.

This large, handsome sparrow holds the distinction of being the only North American songbird that breeds exclusively in Canada. Because of the location of its remote breeding grounds at the edge of boreal forest and tundra, in 1931 the Harris's Sparrow was one of the last birds in North America to have its eggs and nest described. After a slow migration south from its Canadian breeding grounds, Harris's Sparrow winters solely in the central United States, from South Dakota to Texas.

Identification
Harris's Sparrows are big, distinctive sparrows, with large, pinkish bills. In non-breeding plumage, adults have a black crown, buffy-brown cheeks, and a black throat and upper breast (which may include some white). The lower belly is white, with some faint streaking along the flanks. The upperparts are streaked in various shades of brown and black. In breeding plumage, adults acquire much more extensive black on their heads, along with grayish cheeks.

Distribution and Population Trends
Harris's Sparrows nest in the Canadian forest-tundra zone of Manitoba, Nunavut, and the Northwest Territories. They winter in the United States in the central Great Plains from South Dakota and Iowa to southern Texas.

In the 1800s, Harris's Sparrows were not found as far north and west in Canada as they are today. They also appear to have expanded their wintering range further north and west, perhaps due to an increase in backyard bird feeders. However, Christmas Bird Count data from the period 1959-1988 indicate that there has been a decline in the numbers of this species.

Ecology
This species breeds where Canada's boreal forest meets tundra; vegetation is dominated by spruces, larch, dwarf birch-willow shrublands, and tundra plants. Harris's Sparrows typically place their nests on the ground in a mossy depression underneath a shrub. Nesting occurs from mid-June through early July, and both sexes often return to the same nesting territory each year; the return rate is higher for males. Females incubate a typical clutch of four eggs for 12 to 15 days, and then both parents feed nestling for eight to ten days.

Harris's Sparrows feed primarily while hopping on the ground, where they occasionally scratch leaf litter with their feet. Their diet appears to vary considerably based on the time of year; berries may be favored upon arrival on breeding grounds in late spring, then insects are preferred during the summer nesting season, and seeds make up a larger part of the birds' diet during the winter. In the winter, Harris's Sparrows favor edge situations in a wide variety of habitats, including hedgerows and brushy areas, cropland and weedy pastures, and feeding stations. There is evidence that individual birds return to the same areas to winter, but more birds will stay farther north in mild or less snowy winters.

Threats
The isolation of their breeding range makes it unlikely that any changes will take place in that area to threaten the population of this species. Harris's Sparrows can utilize a wide variety of habitats during the winter, including disturbed areas, and will even frequent backyard feeders, so it appears that there is no threat to their numbers due to impacts on their wintering grounds. More study is needed to determine if Christmas Bird Count data are accurately tracking true population declines.

Conservation
Harris's Sparrow has been identified as a priority species in Partners in Flight's Bird Conservation Plan for the Osage Plains physiographic area, which contains the heart of this bird's wintering grounds.

What Can You Do?
Volunteers are crucial to the success of programs that monitor the status of populations of Harris's Sparrows and other bird species. Audubon's Christmas Bird Count (CBC) is one of the longest-running citizen-science monitoring programs in the world and has helped to follow changes in the numbers and distribution of Harris's Sparrows. To learn more about the CBC and how you can participate, visit: http://www.audubon.org/bird/cbc.

References
Byers, C., J. Curson, and U. Olsson. 1995. Sparrows and Buntings. Houghton Mifflin Co., New York.

Norment, C. J. and S. A. Shackleton. 1993. Harris's Sparrow (Zonotrichia querula). In The Birds of North America, No. 64 (A. Poole and F. Gill, eds.). The Academy of Natural Sciences, Philadelphia, PA, and The American Ornithologists' Union, Washington, D.C.

Palis, J.. 1999. Harris's Sparrow species management abstract. The Nature Conservancy, Arlington, VA.

Rising, J. 1996. A Guide to the Identification and Natural History of the Sparrows of the United States and Canada. Academic Press, San Diego, CA.