Bird
American Tree Sparrow
Spizella arborea
A winter visitor to Virginia, found in all 133 counties and cities and 12 habitats.
- Here
- Winter
- Nesting
- Not known to nest here
- Range
- All 133 counties and cities
- Habitats
- 12
At a glance
- Group
- Birds
- Here
- Winter
- Nesting
- Not known to nest here
- Range
- All 133 counties and cities
- Habitats
- 12
- Habitat models
- Winter
Where it lives
The places its habitat model includes. It is not found everywhere a habitat occurs.
Habitats in Virginia 12
Each habitat page lists the plants and wildlife also found there.
1 of 12
Roadsides, fields and disturbed ground
Streams, rivers and their banks
Coastal tidal marshes (salinity not stated)
Tidal marshes of the Atlantic and Gulf coasts where the source does not say whether the water is fresh, brackish or salt. A stated salinity files the marsh under freshwater tidal marshes or salt and brackish marshes instead.
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.
Open, herb-covered wetlands with fresh, non-tidal water.
Marshes along tidal rivers where the water is fresh but rises and falls with the tide.
Glades, barrens and outcrops on limestone
Open, thin-soil openings and rock on limestone, dolomite or other lime-rich rock, including cedar glades.
Treeless grassy or shrubby summits and ridges in the high mountains.
Open, wet, grassy or sedgy ground that is not a bog.
Other habitats in its models (29)
Land cover, or classes with no habitat page in Virginia. Those recorded in Virginia first, the rest by region.
In Virginia 1
- Atlantic Coastal Plain Upland Longleaf Pine Woodland Winter.
Elsewhere in the South (7)
- Atlantic Coastal Plain Small Blackwater River Floodplain Forest Winter.
- Crosstimbers Oak Forest and Woodland 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.
- Southeastern Interior Longleaf Pine Woodland Winter.
- Western Great Plains Mesquite Woodland and Shrubland Winter.
Northeast (1)
- Central Appalachian Alkaline Glade and Woodland Winter.
Midwest (4)
- North-Central Interior Dry Oak Forest and Woodland Winter.
- North-Central Interior Dry-Mesic Oak Forest and Woodland Winter.
- North-Central Interior Oak Savanna Winter.
- Western Great Plains Dry Bur Oak Forest and Woodland Winter.
Land cover and other classes (16)
- Arkansas Valley Prairie and Woodland Winter.
- Atlantic Coastal Plain Clay-Based Carolina Bay Herbaceous Wetland Winter.
- Developed, Low Intensity Winter.
- Developed, Medium Intensity Winter.
- Eastern Great Plains Floodplain Systems Winter.
- Eastern Great Plains Wet Meadow, Prairie, and Marsh Winter.
- Introduced Upland Vegetation - Annual Grassland Winter.
- Introduced Upland Vegetation - Perennial Grassland and Forbland Winter.
- Introduced Upland Vegetation - Shrub Winter.
- Orchards Vineyards and Other High Structure Agriculture Winter.
- Recently Burned Winter.
- Recently Burned Forest Winter.
- Recently Burned Shrubland Winter.
- Recently Logged Areas Winter.
- Western Great Plains Depressional Wetland Systems Winter.
- Western Great Plains Floodplain Systems Winter.
Seasons in Virginia
- Winter: does not nest here, in all 133 counties and cities.
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 204
- Appalachian Woodland SedgeCarex austrolucorum
- Awned SedgeCarex atherodes
- Bottlebrush SedgeCarex hystericina
- Carex bromoides subsp. bromoidesCarex bromoides subsp. bromoides
- Carex venusta var. venustaCarex venusta var. venusta
- Coupled SedgeCarex copulata
- Crawes SedgeCarex crawei
- Davis SedgeCarex davisii
- Dioecious SedgeCarex sterilis
- False Summer SedgeCarex aestivaliformis
- Inland SedgeCarex interior
- Juniper SedgeCarex juniperorum
- Lakebank SedgeCarex lacustris
- Necklace Spike SedgeCarex ormostachya
- Prairie SedgeCarex prairea
- Prairie Straw SedgeCarex suberecta
- Pubescent SedgeCarex hirtifolia
- Sea-beach SedgeCarex silicea
- Shorts SedgeCarex shortiana
- Soft Fox SedgeCarex conjuncta
- Star SedgeCarex echinata subsp. echinata
- Troublesome SedgeCarex molesta
- Variable SedgeCarex polymorpha
- Yellow Sedge, Green SedgeCarex flava
Plant genera in its diet records (9)
- Carex Seeds. 24 diet records. 170 native plants in Virginia
- Eriophorum Seeds. 4 diet records. 1 native plant in Virginia
- Empetrum Seeds. 3 diet records. 0 native plants in Virginia
- Vaccinium Seeds and flowers. 3 diet records. 16 native plants in Virginia
- Draba Seeds. 2 diet records. 1 native plant in Virginia
- Amaranthus Seeds. 1 diet record. 4 native plants in Virginia
- Brassica Seeds. 1 diet record. 0 native plants in Virginia
- Picea Seeds. 1 diet record. 1 native plant in Virginia
- Scirpus Seeds. 1 diet record. 11 native plants in Virginia
Also found in its main habitats
Its main habitats in Virginia, 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.
Floodplain and bottomland forests
Birds 74
- Lincoln's SparrowMelospiza lincolnii
- Snowy OwlBubo scandiacus
- Brewer's BlackbirdEuphagus cyanocephalus
- Willow FlycatcherEmpidonax traillii
- Northern WaterthrushSeiurus noveboracensis
- Glossy IbisPlegadis falcinellus
- Great CormorantPhalacrocorax carbo
- Louisiana WaterthrushSeiurus motacilla
- Rough-legged HawkButeo lagopus
- Ruddy DuckOxyura jamaicensis
- Yellow-throated WarblerDendroica dominica
- Black-throated Blue WarblerDendroica caerulescens
Plants 381
- Elliott's BlueberryVaccinium elliottii
- Possumhaw HollyIlex decidua
- Cherrybark OakQuercus pagoda
- Appalachian Orange ConeflowerRudbeckia fulgida var. umbrosa
- Shagbark HickoryCarya ovata
- Southern Shagbark HickoryCarya carolinae-septentrionalis
- Spreading SedgeCarex laxiculmis
- Louisiana SedgeCarex louisianica
- Common Cup-plantSilphium perfoliatum
- Smooth Hedge-nettleStachys tenuifolia
- Virginia Cup-plantSilphium connatum
- Coville's PhaceliaPhacelia covillei
Roadsides, fields and disturbed ground
Birds 88
- Cape May WarblerDendroica tigrina
- House SparrowPasser domesticus
- Monk ParakeetMyiopsitta monachus
- Upland SandpiperBartramia longicauda
- DickcisselSpiza americana
- Grasshopper SparrowAmmodramus savannarum
- Hoary RedpollCarduelis hornemanni
- BobolinkDolichonyx oryzivorus
- House FinchCarpodacus mexicanus
- Rock PigeonColumba livia
- Vesper SparrowPooecetes gramineus
- Yellow-throated VireoVireo flavifrons
Plants 1283
- Pussy WillowSalix discolor
- Crooked-stem AsterSymphyotrichum prenanthoides
- Long Stalk AsterSymphyotrichum dumosum var. dumosum
- Canada LettuceLactuca canadensis
- Common HorseweedErigeron canadensis
- Annual FleabaneErigeron annuus
- Hairy FleabaneErigeron bonariensis
- Dog-fennelEupatorium capillifolium
- Carolina Crane's-billGeranium carolinianum
- Common Evening-primroseOenothera biennis
- Cutleaf Evening-primroseOenothera laciniata
- Northern Evening-primroseOenothera parviflora
Forest edges and thickets
Birds 40
- Hoary RedpollCarduelis hornemanni
- House FinchCarpodacus mexicanus
- Vesper SparrowPooecetes gramineus
- Wilson's WarblerWilsonia pusilla
- Field SparrowSpizella pusilla
- Barn SwallowHirundo rustica
- Willow FlycatcherEmpidonax traillii
- Loggerhead ShrikeLanius ludovicianus
- Yellow-throated WarblerDendroica dominica
- Black-throated Blue WarblerDendroica caerulescens
- Northern BobwhiteColinus virginianus
- Palm WarblerDendroica palmarum
Plants 244
- Bristly BlackberryRubus setosus
- Tall LarkspurDelphinium exaltatum
- Canada PlumPrunus nigra
- ChokecherryPrunus virginiana var. virginiana
- Fire CherryPrunus pensylvanica
- Silky DogwoodSwida obliqua
- Giant SunflowerHelianthus giganteus
- Gray DogwoodSwida racemosa
- Southern DewberryRubus trivialis
- Buffalo CloverTrifolium reflexum
- Cutleaf GoldenrodSolidago arguta
- Hairy GoldenrodSolidago hispida var. hispida
.jpg){kind=link}
Sources
- USGS Gap Analysis Project habitat models (2001)
- USGS GAP winter habitat model for American Tree Sparrow
- 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