Bird
Chipping Sparrow
Spizella passerina
Lives in Virginia all year and nests here. Found in all 133 counties and cities, across 21 habitats.
- Here
- All year
- Nesting
- Nests here
- Range
- All 133 counties and cities
- Habitats
- 21
At a glance
- Group
- Birds
- Here
- All year
- Nesting
- Nests here
- Range
- All 133 counties and cities
- Habitats
- 21
- Habitat models
- Summer, Winter
Where it lives
The places its habitat model includes. It is not found everywhere a habitat occurs.
Habitats in Virginia 21
Each habitat page lists the plants and wildlife also found there.
1 of 21
Granite and other acidic rock outcrops
Roadsides, fields and disturbed ground
Streams, rivers and their banks
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.
Forest or woodland where the source does not say how moist or dry.
Glades, barrens and outcrops on limestone
Open, thin-soil openings and rock on limestone, dolomite or other lime-rich rock, including cedar glades.
Salt-pruned forests and shrub thickets behind coastal dunes.
Forests between dry and moist, often oak-hickory on slopes.
Treeless grassy or shrubby summits and ridges in the high mountains.
High mountain forests of beech, yellow birch and sugar maple, including boulderfield forests.
Flat, sandy Coastal Plain pine woodlands, wetter than sandhills and denser than savannas.
Open, fire-kept longleaf pine stands over grasses and wildflowers on wet to moist sandy soil.
Steep, sun-baked slopes of loose shale with sparse oaks and Virginia pine and their own endemic wildflowers. Linked only where the source names shale barrens; calcareous shale stays with the limestone glades.
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 (124)
Land cover, or classes with no habitat page in Virginia. Those recorded in Virginia first, the rest by region.
In Virginia 2
- Atlantic Coastal Plain Upland Longleaf Pine Woodland Summer and winter.
- Southern Piedmont Glade and Barrens Summer and winter.
Elsewhere in the South (69)
- 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.
- Central and South Texas Coastal Fringe Forest and Woodland Summer and winter.
- Central and Upper Texas Coast Dune and Coastal Grassland 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.
- East Gulf Coastal Plain Dune and Coastal Grassland Summer and winter.
- East Gulf Coastal Plain Limestone Forest Summer and winter.
- East Gulf Coastal Plain Maritime Forest Summer and winter.
- East Gulf Coastal Plain Near-Coast Pine Flatwoods Summer and winter.
- East Gulf Coastal Plain Northern Dry Upland Hardwood Forest Summer and winter.
- East Gulf Coastal Plain Northern Loess Bluff Forest Summer and winter.
- East Gulf Coastal Plain Northern Mesic Hardwood Forest Summer and winter.
- East Gulf Coastal Plain Southern Loblolly-Hardwood Flatwoods Summer and winter.
- East Gulf Coastal Plain Southern Loess Bluff Forest Summer and winter.
- East Gulf Coastal Plain Southern Mesic Slope Forest 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.
- 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.
- Southeast Florida Coastal Strand and Maritime Hammock Summer and winter.
- Southeastern Interior Longleaf Pine Woodland Summer and winter.
- Southern Coastal Plain Dry Upland Hardwood Forest Summer and winter.
- Southern Coastal Plain Oak Dome and Hammock 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.
- 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 (4)
- Acadian Low-Elevation Spruce-Fir-Hardwood Forest Summer and winter.
- Central Appalachian Alkaline Glade and Woodland Summer and winter.
- North-Central Interior Wet Flatwoods Summer and winter.
- Northeastern Interior Pine Barrens 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 (42)
- 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.
- Developed, Low Intensity Summer and winter.
- Developed, Medium Intensity Summer and winter.
- East Gulf Coastal Plain Black Belt Calcareous Prairie and Woodland - Herbaceous Modifier 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 Jackson Plain Dry Flatwoods - Open Understory Modifier Summer and winter.
- East Gulf Coastal Plain Jackson Prairie and Woodland Summer and winter.
- East Gulf Coastal Plain Near-Coast Pine Flatwoods - Offsite Hardwood Modifier Summer and winter.
- East Gulf Coastal Plain Near-Coast Pine Flatwoods - Open Understory Modifier Summer and winter.
- East Gulf Coastal Plain Near-Coast Pine Flatwoods - Scrub/Shrub Understory Modifier Summer and winter.
- East Gulf Coastal Plain Northern Dry Upland Hardwood Forest - Offsite Pine 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.
- Mississippi River Floodplain and Riparian Forest 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 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 Virginia
- Year-round: nests here, in 110 of 133 counties and cities.
- Summer: nests here, in 49 of 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 226
- Erect KnotweedPolygonum erectum
- Pleatleaf KnotweedPolygonum tenue
- Seabeach KnotweedPolygonum glaucum
- Giant BristlegrassSetaria magna
- Marsh BristlegrassSetaria parviflora
- Tufted HairgrassDeschampsia cespitosa
- Digitaria serotinaDigitaria serotina
- Shaggy CrabgrassDigitaria villosa
- Southern CrabgrassDigitaria ciliaris
- MaidencanePanicum hemitomon
- Panicum amarum var. amarulumPanicum amarulum
- Bitter PanicgrassPanicum amarum
- Fall Panic GrassPanicum dichotomiflorum var. dichotomiflorum
- Panicum virgatum var. virgatumPanicum virgatum var. virgatum
- SwitchgrassPanicum virgatum
- Wiry PanicgrassPanicum flexile
- Slender IndiangrassSorghastrum elliottii
- Yellow IndiangrassSorghastrum nutans
- Deam's Three-seeded MercuryAcalypha deamii
- Common Threeseed MercuryAcalypha rhomboidea
- Slender Threeseed MercuryAcalypha gracilens
- Virginia Threeseed MercuryAcalypha virginica
- Autumn BluegrassPoa autumnalis
- Bog BluegrassPoa paludigena
Plant genera in its diet records (24)
- Polygonum Seeds. 5 diet records. 3 native plants in Virginia
- Setaria Seeds. 5 diet records. 2 native plants in Virginia
- Deschampsia Seeds. 4 diet records. 1 native plant in Virginia
- Digitaria Seeds. 4 diet records. 3 native plants in Virginia
- Panicum Seeds. 4 diet records. 7 native plants in Virginia
- Sorghastrum Seeds. 4 diet records. 2 native plants in Virginia
- Acalypha Seeds. 3 diet records. 4 native plants in Virginia
- Avena Seeds. 3 diet records. 0 native plants in Virginia
- Poa Seeds. 3 diet records. 8 native plants in Virginia
- Agropyron Seeds. 2 diet records. 0 native plants in Virginia
- Danthonia Seeds. 2 diet records. 3 native plants in Virginia
- Iva Seeds. 2 diet records. 2 native plants in Virginia
- Oxalis Seeds. 2 diet records. 7 native plants in Virginia
- Rumex Seeds. 2 diet records. 2 native plants in Virginia
- Amaranthus Seeds. 1 diet record. 4 native plants in Virginia
- Calandrinia Seeds. 1 diet record. 0 native plants in Virginia
- Carex Seeds. 1 diet record. 170 native plants in Virginia
- Centaurea Seeds. 1 diet record. 0 native plants in Virginia
- Chloris Seeds. 1 diet record. 0 native plants in Virginia
- Claytonia Seeds. 1 diet record. 2 native plants in Virginia
- Erodium Seeds. 1 diet record. 0 native plants in Virginia
- Phleum Seeds. 1 diet record. 0 native plants in Virginia
- Solanum Seeds. 1 diet record. 2 native plants in Virginia
- Stellaria Seeds. 1 diet record. 4 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.
Chipping Sparrow uses many habitats in Virginia; these are its 3 most characteristic.
Dry forests and woodlands
Birds 60
- Red CrossbillLoxia curvirostra
- Pine WarblerDendroica pinus
- Brown-headed NuthatchSitta pusilla
- Blackburnian WarblerDendroica fusca
- Brewer's BlackbirdEuphagus cyanocephalus
- Red-breasted NuthatchSitta canadensis
- Blue-headed VireoVireo solitarius
- Louisiana WaterthrushSeiurus motacilla
- White-winged CrossbillLoxia leucoptera
- Yellow-throated WarblerDendroica dominica
- Black-throated Blue WarblerDendroica caerulescens
- Canada WarblerWilsonia canadensis
Plants 230
- American ChestnutCastanea dentata
- Eastern Winged SumacRhus copallinum var. latifolia
- Godfrey's ThoroughwortEupatorium godfreyanum
- White ThoroughwortEupatorium album
- Sessileleaf Tick-trefoilDesmodium sessilifolium
- Leavenworth's SedgeCarex leavenworthii
- Southern Whitetinge SedgeCarex albicans var. australis
- Southern LoosestrifeSteironema tonsum
- Carolina LilyLilium michauxii
- Tall BellflowerCampanulastrum americanum
- Bigleaf SnowbellStyrax grandifolius
- Delicate Rabbit-tobaccoPseudognaphalium micradenium
Roadsides, fields and disturbed ground
Birds 89
- 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
Floodplain and bottomland forests
Birds 75
- 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
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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