Bird

Fox Sparrow

Passerella iliaca

A winter visitor to North Carolina, found in all 100 counties and 18 habitats.

Here: Winter
Nesting: Not known to nest here
Range: All 100 counties
Habitats: 18

Male Fox Sparrow, whole bird — **Male**. (c) datadan, some rights reserved (CC BY). CC BY. iNaturalist photo 248609058. iNaturalist large derivative; no local crop or retouch.

At a glance

Group: Birds
Here: Winter
Nesting: Not known to nest here
Range: All 100 counties
Habitats: 18
Habitat models: Winter

Where it lives

The places its habitat model includes. It is not found everywhere a habitat occurs.

Habitats in North Carolina 18

Each habitat page lists the plants and wildlife also found there.

1 of 18

WinterSouthern Piedmont Large Floodplain Forest - Forest Modifier; Central Interior and Appalachian Floodplain Systems; Central Interior and Appalachian Riparian Systems; Southern Piedmont Small Floodplain and Riparian ForestNamed place / source context. Shown: Congaree Swamp National Monument floodplain forest, South Carolina; representative illustration, no exact viewpoint, a neighboring state.fallen (uprooted) tree, John Dawson, by1988. Public domain. Source record.

WinterCentral Interior and Appalachian Shrub-Herbaceous Wetland SystemsRegional / representative. Shown: Chattahoochee River National Recreation Area, Georgia; representative pond ecosystem, a neighboring state.Georgia pond and emergent wetland, Robert 'Bob' Hynes, 1997. Public domain. Source record.

WinterSouthern and Central Appalachian Cove ForestRegional / representative. Great Smoky Mountains National Park, North Carolina and Tennessee; representative habitat composite, not a documented exact viewpointCove hardwood forest, Hynes, Robert 'Bob', by 2012. Public domain. Source record.

WinterCentral Interior and Appalachian Riparian SystemsFrederic Edwin Church, Autumn Landscape in North Carolina (1865-70): a boulder-strewn mountain river under autumn-coloured ridges. Regional view: the painting does not name the exact site. North Carolina mountains (Frederic Edwin Church, oil sketch 1865-70; Cooper Hewitt)*Drawing, Autumn Landscape in North Carolina, 1865–70*, Frederic Edwin Church, 1865-1870. Public domain. Source record.

Dry forests and woodlands

Forests and open woodlands on dry ridges and slopes, often oak or pine.

WinterSouthern and Central Appalachian Oak Forest - Xeric; Central and Southern Appalachian Montane Oak Forest; Atlantic Coastal Plain Dry and Dry-Mesic Oak Forest; Southern Piedmont Dry Oak-(Pine) Forest - Hardwood Modifier; Southeastern Interior Longleaf Pine Woodland; Southern Piedmont Dry Oak-(Pine) Forest; Southern Appalachian Montane Pine Forest and Woodland

Forest edges and thickets

Borders of forests, clearings and shrubby thickets.

WinterDisturbed/Successional - Shrub Regeneration; Successional Shrub/Scrub (Other); Harvested Forest - Shrub Regeneration

Maritime forests and thickets

Salt-pruned forests and shrub thickets behind coastal dunes.

WinterAtlantic Coastal Plain Central Maritime Forest

Moderately dry forests

Forests between dry and moist, often oak-hickory on slopes.

WinterSouthern and Central Appalachian Oak Forest; Atlantic Coastal Plain Dry and Dry-Mesic Oak Forest

Moist forests

Forests on moist but not wet ground, such as rich slopes and ravines.

WinterSouthern Piedmont Mesic Forest; Southern and Central Appalachian Cove Forest; Atlantic Coastal Plain Mesic Hardwood and Mixed Forest

Mountain balds

Treeless grassy or shrubby summits and ridges in the high mountains.

WinterSouthern Appalachian Grass and Shrub Bald - Shrub Modifier

Northern hardwood forests

High mountain forests of beech, yellow birch and sugar maple, including boulderfield forests.

Winter

Sandhills

Dry, deep-sand ridges with longleaf pine and turkey oak, kept open by fire.

WinterAtlantic Coastal Plain Fall-line Sandhills Longleaf Pine Woodland - Scrub/Shrub Understory Modifier

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.

WinterDeciduous Plantation; Managed Tree Plantation

Wet meadows

Open, wet, grassy or sedgy ground that is not a bog.

WinterCentral Interior and Appalachian Shrub-Herbaceous Wetland Systems

WinterBeside its main habitat.Southern Piedmont Dry Oak-(Pine) Forest - Loblolly Pine ModifierNamed place / source context. Shown: Kennesaw Mountain National Battlefield Park, Georgia, a neighboring state.Trail on Little Kennesaw Mountain., Unidentified in HFC record, undated. Public domain. Source record.

WinterBeside its main habitat.Regional / representative. Great Smoky Mountains National Park, North Carolina and Tennessee; representative habitat composite, not a documented exact viewpointSpruce-fir forest, Hynes, Robert 'Bob', by 2012. Public domain. Source record.

WinterBeside its main habitat.Central Interior and Appalachian Swamp Systems; Southern Piedmont/Ridge and Valley Upland Depression SwampNamed place / source context. Great Dismal Swamp, North Carolina, as titled by Museum of Fine Arts Boston; nineteenth-century artistic interpretationView, Dismal Swamp, North Carolina, Regis Francois Gignoux, 1850. Public domain. Source record.

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.

WinterBeside its main habitat.

Other habitats in its models (67)

Land cover, or classes with no habitat page in North Carolina. Those recorded in North Carolina first, the rest by region.

In North Carolina 1

Atlantic Coastal Plain Upland Longleaf Pine Woodland Winter.

Elsewhere in the South (34)

Atlantic Coastal Plain Southern Maritime Forest Winter.
Central and South Texas Coastal Fringe Forest and Woodland Winter.
East Gulf Coastal Plain Limestone Forest Winter, beside its main habitat.
East Gulf Coastal Plain Maritime Forest Winter.
East Gulf Coastal Plain Northern Dry Upland Hardwood Forest Winter.
East Gulf Coastal Plain Northern Loess Bluff Forest Winter.
East Gulf Coastal Plain Northern Mesic Hardwood Forest Winter.
East Gulf Coastal Plain Southern Loess Bluff Forest Winter.
East Gulf Coastal Plain Southern Mesic Slope Forest Winter.
East-Central Texas Plains Floodplain Forest Winter.
East-Central Texas Plains Pine Forest and Woodland Winter.
East-Central Texas Plains Post Oak Savanna and Woodland Winter.
East-Central Texas Plains Riparian Forest Winter.
Florida Peninsula Inland Scrub Winter.
Lower Mississippi River Dune Woodland and Forest Winter.
Mississippi Delta Maritime Forest Winter.
Mississippi River Alluvial Plain Dry-Mesic Loess Slope Forest Winter, beside its main habitat.
Ozark-Ouachita Dry Oak Woodland Winter.
Ozark-Ouachita Dry-Mesic Oak Forest Winter, beside its main habitat.
Ridge and Valley Calcareous Valley Bottom Glade and Woodland Winter.
South Florida Hardwood Hammock Winter.
South Texas Lomas Winter.
South-Central Interior Mesophytic Forest Winter.
Southeast Florida Coastal Strand and Maritime Hammock Winter, beside its main habitat.
Southern Coastal Plain Dry Upland Hardwood Forest Winter.
Southern Coastal Plain Oak Dome and Hammock Winter.
Southern Interior Low Plateau Dry-Mesic Oak Forest Winter.
Southern Ridge and Valley Dry Calcareous Forest Winter, beside its main habitat.
Southwest Florida Coastal Strand and Maritime Hammock Winter, beside its main habitat.
West Gulf Coastal Plain Chenier and Upper Texas Coastal Fringe Forest and Woodland Winter.
West Gulf Coastal Plain Large River Floodplain Forest Winter.
West Gulf Coastal Plain Mesic Hardwood Forest Winter, beside its main habitat.
West Gulf Coastal Plain Small Stream and River Forest Winter.
West Gulf Coastal Plain Upland Longleaf Pine Forest and Woodland Winter.

Northeast (7)

Appalachian Hemlock-Hardwood Forest Winter.
Central Appalachian Alkaline Glade and Woodland Winter.
Central Appalachian Oak and Pine Forest Winter.
Central Appalachian Pine-Oak Rocky Woodland Winter.
North-Central Interior Wet Flatwoods Winter.
Northeastern Interior Dry-Mesic Oak Forest Winter, beside its main habitat.
Northern Atlantic Coastal Plain Dry Hardwood Forest Winter.

Midwest (3)

North-Central Interior Beech-Maple Forest Winter, beside its main habitat.
North-Central Interior Dry Oak Forest and Woodland Winter.
North-Central Interior Dry-Mesic Oak Forest and Woodland Winter.

Land cover and other classes (22)

Atlantic Coastal Plain Fall-Line Sandhills Longleaf Pine Woodland - Loblolly Modifier Winter.
Atlantic Coastal Plain Fall-line Sandhills Longleaf Pine Woodland - Offsite Hardwood Modifier Winter.
Central Appalachian Floodplain - Forest Modifier Winter.
Central Appalachian Riparian - Forest Modifier Winter.
East Gulf Coastal Plain Black Belt Calcareous Prairie and Woodland - Woodland Modifier Winter.
East Gulf Coastal Plain Interior Shortleaf Pine-Oak Forest - Hardwood Modifier Winter, beside its main habitat.
East Gulf Coastal Plain Interior Upland Longleaf Pine Woodland - Loblolly Modifier Winter.
East Gulf Coastal Plain Interior Upland Longleaf Pine Woodland - Offsite Hardwood Modifier Winter.
East Gulf Coastal Plain Interior Upland Longleaf Pine Woodland - Scrub/Shrub Modifier Winter.
East Gulf Coastal Plain Northern Loess Plain Oak-Hickory Upland - Hardwood Modifier Winter.
East Gulf Coastal Plain Northern Loess Plain Oak-Hickory Upland - Juniper Modifier Winter, beside its main habitat.
Eastern Great Plains Floodplain Systems Winter.
Florida Longleaf Pine Sandhill - Scrub/Shrub Understory Modifier Winter.
Introduced Upland Vegetation - Shrub Winter.
Northeastern Interior Dry Oak Forest - Mixed Modifier Winter, beside its main habitat.
Recently Burned Winter.
Recently Burned Forest Winter.
Recently Burned Shrubland Winter.
Recently Logged Areas Winter.
Southern Piedmont Dry Oak-(Pine) Forest - Mixed Modifier Winter, beside its main habitat.
Southern Piedmont Dry Oak-Heath Forest - Mixed Modifier Winter.
Southern Ridge and Valley Dry Calcareous Forest - Pine modifier Winter, beside its main habitat.

All habitats

Seasons in North Carolina

Winter: does not nest here, in all 100 counties.

Also found in its main habitats

Its main habitats in North Carolina, 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.

Fox Sparrow uses many habitats in North Carolina; these are its 3 most characteristic.