Bird
Chipping Sparrow
Spizella passerina
Lives in Mississippi all year and nests here. Found in all 82 counties, across 15 habitats.
- Here
- All year
- Nesting
- Nests here
- Range
- All 82 counties
- Habitats
- 15

At a glance
- Group
- Birds
- Here
- All year
- Nesting
- Nests here
- Range
- All 82 counties
- Habitats
- 15
- Habitat models
- Summer, Winter
Where it lives
The places its habitat model includes. It is not found everywhere a habitat occurs.
Habitats in Mississippi 15
Each habitat page lists the plants and wildlife also found there.
Open sand of beaches, dunes and the hollows between them.
Dense, evergreen groves of live oak, magnolia and other hardwoods in the southern Coastal Plain, from dry oak domes to wet hydric hammocks and south Florida's tropical hammocks; salt-shaped maritime hammocks are maritime forests.
Disturbed and introduced wetlands
Wet ground taken over by weedy or introduced plants after disturbance, such as common reed, Chinese tallow or tamarisk stands; the upland counterpart is roadsides, fields and disturbed ground.
Forests and open woodlands on dry ridges and slopes, often oak or pine.
Floodplain and bottomland forests
Forests on low ground beside rivers and streams that flood from time to time.
Borders of forests, clearings and shrubby thickets.
Forest or woodland where the source does not say how moist or dry.
Flat, poorly drained uplands and terraces with oaks, sweetgum and sometimes loblolly pine, wet in winter and dry in summer, but neither a floodplain nor a swamp.
Salt-pruned forests and shrub thickets behind coastal dunes.
Forests between dry and moist, often oak-hickory on slopes.
Forests on moist but not wet ground, such as rich slopes and ravines.
Flat, sandy Coastal Plain pine woodlands, wetter than sandhills and denser than savannas.
Open, grass-dominated places kept open by fire, grazing or thin soil, from tallgrass prairie to Piedmont prairies.
Roadsides, fields and disturbed ground
Ground opened by people: roadsides, old fields, pastures, fencerows and lots.
Tree plantations and managed pine
Planted or intensively managed stands of pine or hardwoods grown for timber; a land use rather than a natural community.
Other habitats in its models (139)
Land cover, or classes with no habitat page in Mississippi. Those recorded in Mississippi first, the rest by region.
Elsewhere in the South (80)
- Appalachian Shale Barrens Summer and winter.
- Atlantic Coastal Plain Central Maritime Forest Summer and winter.
- Atlantic Coastal Plain Dry and Dry-Mesic Oak Forest Summer and winter.
- Atlantic Coastal Plain Mesic Hardwood and Mixed Forest Summer and winter.
- Atlantic Coastal Plain Southern Dune and Maritime Grassland Summer and winter.
- Atlantic Coastal Plain Southern Maritime Forest Summer and winter.
- Atlantic Coastal Plain Southern Wet Pine Savanna and Flatwoods Summer and winter.
- Atlantic Coastal Plain Upland Longleaf Pine Woodland Summer and winter.
- Central and South Texas Coastal Fringe Forest and Woodland Summer and winter.
- Central and Southern Appalachian Montane Oak Forest Summer and winter.
- Central and Southern Appalachian Northern Hardwood Forest Summer and winter.
- Central and Southern Appalachian Spruce-Fir Forest Summer and winter.
- Central and Upper Texas Coast Dune and Coastal Grassland Summer and winter.
- Central Atlantic Coastal Plain Wet Longleaf Pine Savanna and Flatwoods Summer and winter.
- Central Florida Pine Flatwoods Summer and winter.
- Central Interior Highlands Calcareous Glade and Barrens Summer and winter.
- Central Interior Highlands Dry Acidic Glade and Barrens Summer and winter.
- Crosstimbers Oak Forest and Woodland Summer and winter.
- Cumberland Riverscour Summer and winter.
- Cumberland Sandstone Glade and Barrens Summer and winter.
- East-Central Texas Plains Pine Forest and Woodland Summer and winter.
- East-Central Texas Plains Post Oak Savanna and Woodland Summer and winter.
- East-Central Texas Plains Riparian Forest Summer and winter.
- Edwards Plateau Limestone Savanna and Woodland Summer and winter.
- Florida Dry Prairie Summer and winter.
- Florida Peninsula Inland Scrub Summer and winter.
- Lower Mississippi River Dune Woodland and Forest Summer and winter.
- Lower Mississippi River Flatwoods Summer and winter.
- Mississippi Delta Maritime Forest Summer and winter.
- Mississippi River Alluvial Plain Dry-Mesic Loess Slope Forest Summer and winter.
- Nashville Basin Limestone Glade Summer and winter.
- Northern Crowley's Ridge Sand Forest Summer and winter.
- Ouachita Montane Oak Forest Summer and winter.
- Ozark-Ouachita Dry Oak Woodland Summer and winter.
- Ozark-Ouachita Dry-Mesic Oak Forest Summer and winter.
- Ozark-Ouachita Mesic Hardwood Forest Summer and winter.
- Ozark-Ouachita Riparian Summer and winter.
- Ozark-Ouachita Shortleaf Pine-Bluestem Woodland Summer and winter.
- Ozark-Ouachita Shortleaf Pine-Oak Forest and Woodland Summer and winter.
- Ridge and Valley Calcareous Valley Bottom Glade and Woodland Summer and winter.
- South Florida Dwarf Cypress Savanna Summer and winter.
- South Florida Hardwood Hammock Summer and winter.
- South Florida Pine Flatwoods Summer and winter.
- South Florida Pine Rockland Summer and winter.
- South-Central Interior / Upper Coastal Plain Wet Flatwoods Summer and winter.
- South-Central Interior Mesophytic Forest Summer and winter.
- South-Central Interior Small Stream and Riparian Summer and winter.
- Southeast Florida Coastal Strand and Maritime Hammock Summer and winter.
- Southeastern Interior Longleaf Pine Woodland Summer and winter.
- Southern and Central Appalachian Cove Forest Summer and winter.
- Southern and Central Appalachian Oak Forest Summer and winter.
- Southern Appalachian Grass and Shrub Bald Summer and winter.
- Southern Appalachian Low Mountain Pine Forest Summer and winter.
- Southern Appalachian Montane Pine Forest and Woodland Summer and winter.
- Southern Crowley's Ridge Mesic Loess Slope Forest Summer and winter.
- Southern Interior Low Plateau Dry-Mesic Oak Forest Summer and winter.
- Southern Piedmont Dry Oak-(Pine) Forest Summer and winter.
- Southern Piedmont Glade and Barrens Summer and winter.
- Southern Piedmont Mesic Forest Summer and winter.
- Southern Piedmont Small Floodplain and Riparian Forest Summer and winter.
- Southern Ridge and Valley Dry Calcareous Forest Summer and winter.
- Southwest Florida Coastal Strand and Maritime Hammock Summer and winter.
- Southwest Florida Dune and Coastal Grassland Summer and winter.
- Texas Saline Coastal Prairie Summer and winter.
- Texas-Louisiana Coastal Prairie Summer and winter.
- West Gulf Coastal Plain Catahoula Barrens Summer and winter.
- West Gulf Coastal Plain Chenier and Upper Texas Coastal Fringe Forest and Woodland Summer and winter.
- West Gulf Coastal Plain Large River Floodplain Forest Summer and winter.
- West Gulf Coastal Plain Mesic Hardwood Forest Summer and winter.
- West Gulf Coastal Plain Nepheline Syenite Glade Summer and winter.
- West Gulf Coastal Plain Nonriverine Wet Hardwood Flatwoods Summer and winter.
- West Gulf Coastal Plain Northern Calcareous Prairie Summer and winter.
- West Gulf Coastal Plain Pine-Hardwood Flatwoods Summer and winter.
- West Gulf Coastal Plain Pine-Hardwood Forest Summer and winter.
- West Gulf Coastal Plain Sandhill Oak and Shortleaf Pine Forest and Woodland Summer and winter.
- West Gulf Coastal Plain Small Stream and River Forest Summer and winter.
- West Gulf Coastal Plain Southern Calcareous Prairie Summer and winter.
- West Gulf Coastal Plain Upland Longleaf Pine Forest and Woodland Summer and winter.
- West Gulf Coastal Plain Wet Longleaf Pine Savanna and Flatwoods Summer and winter.
- Western Great Plains Mesquite Woodland and Shrubland Summer and winter.
Northeast (9)
- Acadian Low-Elevation Spruce-Fir-Hardwood Forest Summer and winter.
- Appalachian Hemlock-Hardwood Forest Summer and winter.
- Central Appalachian Alkaline Glade and Woodland Summer and winter.
- Central Appalachian Oak and Pine Forest Summer and winter.
- Central Appalachian Pine-Oak Rocky Woodland Summer and winter.
- North-Central Interior Wet Flatwoods Summer and winter.
- Northeastern Interior Dry-Mesic Oak Forest Summer and winter.
- Northeastern Interior Pine Barrens Summer and winter.
- Northern Atlantic Coastal Plain Dry Hardwood Forest Summer and winter.
Midwest (7)
- North-Central Interior Beech-Maple Forest Summer and winter.
- North-Central Interior Dry Oak Forest and Woodland Summer and winter.
- North-Central Interior Dry-Mesic Oak Forest and Woodland Summer and winter.
- North-Central Interior Maple-Basswood Forest Summer and winter.
- North-Central Interior Oak Savanna Summer and winter.
- North-Central Oak Barrens Summer and winter.
- Western Great Plains Wooded Draw and Ravine Summer and winter.
Land cover and other classes (43)
- Allegheny-Cumberland Dry Oak Forest and Woodland - Hardwood Summer and winter.
- Allegheny-Cumberland Dry Oak Forest and Woodland - Pine Modifier Summer and winter.
- Arkansas Valley Prairie and Woodland Summer and winter.
- Atlantic Coastal Plain Fall-Line Sandhills Longleaf Pine Woodland - Loblolly Modifier Summer and winter.
- Atlantic Coastal Plain Fall-line Sandhills Longleaf Pine Woodland - Offsite Hardwood Modifier Summer and winter.
- Atlantic Coastal Plain Fall-line Sandhills Longleaf Pine Woodland - Open Understory Modifier Summer and winter.
- Atlantic Coastal Plain Fall-line Sandhills Longleaf Pine Woodland - Scrub/Shrub Understory Modifier Summer and winter.
- Central Appalachian Riparian - Forest Modifier Summer and winter.
- Central Interior and Appalachian Riparian Systems Summer and winter.
- Developed, Low Intensity Summer and winter.
- Developed, Medium Intensity Summer and winter.
- East Gulf Coastal Plain Black Belt Calcareous Prairie and Woodland - Woodland Modifier Summer and winter.
- East Gulf Coastal Plain Interior Shortleaf Pine-Oak Forest - Hardwood Modifier Summer and winter.
- East Gulf Coastal Plain Interior Shortleaf Pine-Oak Forest - Mixed Modifier Summer and winter.
- East Gulf Coastal Plain Interior Upland Longleaf Pine Woodland - Loblolly Modifier Summer and winter.
- East Gulf Coastal Plain Interior Upland Longleaf Pine Woodland - Offsite Hardwood Modifier Summer and winter.
- East Gulf Coastal Plain Interior Upland Longleaf Pine Woodland - Open Understory Modifier Summer and winter.
- East Gulf Coastal Plain Interior Upland Longleaf Pine Woodland - Scrub/Shrub Modifier Summer and winter.
- East Gulf Coastal Plain Near-Coast Pine Flatwoods - Offsite Hardwood Modifier Summer and winter.
- East Gulf Coastal Plain Northern Loess Plain Oak-Hickory Upland - Hardwood Modifier Summer and winter.
- East Gulf Coastal Plain Northern Loess Plain Oak-Hickory Upland - Juniper Modifier Summer and winter.
- Eastern Great Plains Floodplain Systems Summer and winter.
- Florida Longleaf Pine Sandhill - Open Understory Modifier Summer and winter.
- Florida Longleaf Pine Sandhill - Scrub/Shrub Understory Modifier Summer and winter.
- Harvested Forest - Grass/Forb Regeneration Summer and winter.
- Introduced Upland Vegetation - Annual Grassland Summer and winter.
- Introduced Upland Vegetation - Forbland Summer and winter.
- Introduced Upland Vegetation - Perennial Grassland Summer and winter.
- Introduced Upland Vegetation - Treed Summer and winter.
- Northeastern Interior Dry Oak Forest - Mixed Modifier Summer and winter.
- Northeastern Interior Dry Oak Forest - Virginia/Pitch Pine Modifier Summer and winter.
- Northeastern Interior Dry Oak Forest-Hardwood Modifier Summer and winter.
- Recently Burned Grassland Summer and winter.
- Recently Burned Shrubland Summer and winter.
- Southern and Central Appalachian Oak Forest - Xeric Summer and winter.
- Southern Appalachian Grass and Shrub Bald - Herbaceous Modifier Summer and winter.
- Southern Appalachian Grass and Shrub Bald - Shrub Modifier Summer and winter.
- Southern Piedmont Dry Oak-(Pine) Forest - Hardwood Modifier Summer and winter.
- Southern Piedmont Dry Oak-(Pine) Forest - Loblolly Pine Modifier Summer and winter.
- Southern Piedmont Dry Oak-(Pine) Forest - Mixed Modifier Summer and winter.
- Southern Piedmont Dry Oak-Heath Forest - Mixed Modifier Summer and winter.
- Southern Ridge and Valley Dry Calcareous Forest - Pine modifier Summer and winter.
- Tamaulipan Riparian Systems Summer and winter.
Seasons in Mississippi
- Year-round: nests here, in all 82 counties.
- Winter: does not nest here, in 2 of 82 counties.
Food plants
Diet records by plant genus, from studies across North America. Not a record from this state. Plants matched by genus.
Native plants in these genera 186
- Erect KnotweedPolygonum erectum
- Coastal BristlegrassSetaria corrugata
- Giant BristlegrassSetaria magna
- Marsh BristlegrassSetaria parviflora
- Digitaria serotinaDigitaria serotina
- Shaggy CrabgrassDigitaria villosa
- Slender CrabgrassDigitaria filiformis
- MaidencanePanicum hemitomon
- Panicum amarum var. amarulumPanicum amarum var. amarulum
- Panicum amarum var. amarumPanicum amarum var. amarum
- Prairie PanicgrassPanicum brachyanthum
- Stalked PanicgrassPanicum rigidulum subsp. elongatum
- Beaked PanicgrassPanicum anceps
- Bitter PanicgrassPanicum amarum
- Fall PanicgrassPanicum dichotomiflorum
- Old-witch PanicgrassPanicum capillare
- Panicum tenerumPanicum tenerum
- Panicum virgatum var. virgatumPanicum virgatum var. virgatum
- Redtop PanicgrassPanicum rigidulum
- SwitchgrassPanicum virgatum
- Wiry PanicgrassPanicum flexile
- Apalachicola IndiangrassSorghastrum apalachicolense
- Sorghastrum secundumSorghastrum secundum
- Slender IndiangrassSorghastrum elliottii
Plant genera in its diet records (24)
- Polygonum Seeds. 5 diet records. 1 native plant in Mississippi
- Setaria Seeds. 5 diet records. 3 native plants in Mississippi
- Deschampsia Seeds. 4 diet records. 0 native plants in Mississippi
- Digitaria Seeds. 4 diet records. 3 native plants in Mississippi
- Panicum Seeds. 4 diet records. 14 native plants in Mississippi
- Sorghastrum Seeds. 4 diet records. 4 native plants in Mississippi
- Acalypha Seeds. 3 diet records. 4 native plants in Mississippi
- Avena Seeds. 3 diet records. 0 native plants in Mississippi
- Poa Seeds. 3 diet records. 3 native plants in Mississippi
- Agropyron Seeds. 2 diet records. 0 native plants in Mississippi
- Danthonia Seeds. 2 diet records. 2 native plants in Mississippi
- Iva Seeds. 2 diet records. 4 native plants in Mississippi
- Oxalis Seeds. 2 diet records. 3 native plants in Mississippi
- Rumex Seeds. 2 diet records. 3 native plants in Mississippi
- Amaranthus Seeds. 1 diet record. 4 native plants in Mississippi
- Calandrinia Seeds. 1 diet record. 0 native plants in Mississippi
- Carex Seeds. 1 diet record. 131 native plants in Mississippi
- Centaurea Seeds. 1 diet record. 0 native plants in Mississippi
- Chloris Seeds. 1 diet record. 0 native plants in Mississippi
- Claytonia Seeds. 1 diet record. 2 native plants in Mississippi
- Erodium Seeds. 1 diet record. 0 native plants in Mississippi
- Phleum Seeds. 1 diet record. 0 native plants in Mississippi
- Solanum Seeds. 1 diet record. 3 native plants in Mississippi
- Stellaria Seeds. 1 diet record. 2 native plants in Mississippi
Also found in its main habitats
Its main habitats in Mississippi, by how much of its habitat model each one is, with the birds most characteristic of each and the plants that grow wild there. Shared habitat, not food.
Chipping Sparrow uses many habitats in Mississippi; these are its 3 most characteristic.
Roadsides, fields and disturbed ground
Birds 120
- Cape May WarblerDendroica tigrina
- Grasshopper SparrowAmmodramus savannarum
- House SparrowPasser domesticus
- Long-eared OwlAsio otus
- Monk ParakeetMyiopsitta monachus
- Smith's LongspurCalcarius pictus
- Upland SandpiperBartramia longicauda
- Rock PigeonColumba livia
- Bronzed CowbirdMolothrus aeneus
- DickcisselSpiza americana
- Bell's VireoVireo bellii
- Black-bellied PloverPluvialis squatarola
Plants 1094
- Muck SunflowerHelianthus simulans
- Annual FleabaneErigeron annuus
- Canada LettuceLactuca canadensis
- Common Evening-primroseOenothera biennis
- Cutleaf Evening-primroseOenothera laciniata
- Dog-fennelEupatorium capillifolium
- Threadleaf SundropsOenothera linifolia
- Carolina Crane's-billGeranium carolinianum
- Carolina HorsenettleSolanum carolinense var. carolinense
- Blackeyed SusanRudbeckia hirta var. pulcherrima
- Downy Ground-cherryPhysalis pubescens
- Gray Ground-cherryPhysalis grisea
All of roadsides, fields and disturbed ground in Mississippi
Moist forests
Birds 49
- Cerulean WarblerDendroica cerulea
- Louisiana WaterthrushSeiurus motacilla
- Red-breasted NuthatchSitta canadensis
- Kentucky WarblerOporornis formosus
- Broad-winged HawkButeo platypterus
- OvenbirdSeiurus aurocapilla
- Swainson's WarblerLimnothlypis swainsonii
- Worm-eating WarblerHelmitheros vermivorum
- Northern ParulaParula americana
- Scarlet TanagerPiranga olivacea
- Barred OwlStrix varia
- Brown ThrasherToxostoma rufum
Plants 270
- Mountain HollyIlex montana
- Rigid Whitetop AsterSymphyotrichum retroflexum
- Smooth Blue AsterSymphyotrichum laeve
- Sweet Scented Joe Pye WeedEutrochium purpureum var. purpureum
- White AshFraxinus americana
- Fewflower Tick-trefoilDesmodium pauciflorum
- Umbrella MagnoliaMagnolia tripetala
- Yellow BuckeyeAesculus flava
- Pointedleaf Tick-trefoilDesmodium glutinosum
- Smooth Carrion-flowerSmilax herbacea
- American Basswood; American LindenTilia americana var. caroliniana
- Leonard's Witch HazelHamamelis ovalis
Dry forests and woodlands
Birds 45
- Cerulean WarblerDendroica cerulea
- Broad-winged HawkButeo platypterus
- OvenbirdSeiurus aurocapilla
- Swainson's WarblerLimnothlypis swainsonii
- Worm-eating WarblerHelmitheros vermivorum
- Scarlet TanagerPiranga olivacea
- Baltimore OrioleIcterus galbula
- Barred OwlStrix varia
- Brown ThrasherToxostoma rufum
- Fox SparrowPasserella iliaca
- Acadian FlycatcherEmpidonax virescens
- American RedstartSetophaga ruticilla
Plants 190
- Chestnut OakQuercus prinus
- American ChestnutCastanea dentata
- White ThoroughwortEupatorium album
- Sessileleaf Tick-trefoilDesmodium sessilifolium
- Painted SedgeCarex picta
- Ernests SpiderwortTradescantia ernestiana
- Leavenworth's SedgeCarex leavenworthii
- Southern Whitetinge SedgeCarex albicans var. australis
- Carolina LilyLilium michauxii
- Tall BellflowerCampanulastrum americanum
- Bigleaf SnowbellStyrax grandifolius
- Perfoliate BellwortUvularia perfoliata
Sources
- USGS Gap Analysis Project habitat models (2001)
- USGS GAP winter habitat model for Chipping Sparrow Elevation up to 914 m. Avoids forest interior
- USGS Gap Analysis Project range maps (2001), modeled by watershed; migratory gives no dates
- NatureServe Explorer (CC BY 4.0), habitat names
- US Census TIGER/Line counties
- Names follow the USGS Gap Analysis Project (2001)
- Avian Diet Database (Hurlbert Lab) (CC0 1.0), diet records by plant genus
































































