Bird
American Tree Sparrow
Spizella arborea
A winter visitor to West Virginia, found in all 55 counties and 7 habitats.
- Here
- Winter
- Nesting
- Not known to nest here
- Range
- All 55 counties
- Habitats
- 7
At a glance
- Group
- Birds
- Here
- Winter
- Nesting
- Not known to nest here
- Range
- All 55 counties
- Habitats
- 7
- Habitat models
- Winter
Where it lives
The places its habitat model includes. It is not found everywhere a habitat occurs.
Habitats in West Virginia 7
Each habitat page lists the plants and wildlife also found there.
1 of 7
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.
Treeless grassy or shrubby summits and ridges in the high mountains.
Roadsides, fields and disturbed ground
Ground opened by people: roadsides, old fields, pastures, fencerows and lots.
Streams, rivers and their banks
Flowing water and its banks, bars and rocky shoals.
Other habitats in its models (38)
Land cover, or classes with no habitat page in West Virginia. Those recorded in West Virginia first, the rest by region.
Elsewhere in the South (13)
- Atlantic Coastal Plain Brownwater Stream Floodplain Forest Winter.
- Atlantic Coastal Plain Embayed Region Tidal Freshwater Marsh Winter.
- Atlantic Coastal Plain Small Blackwater River Floodplain Forest Winter.
- Atlantic Coastal Plain Small Brownwater River Floodplain Forest Winter.
- Atlantic Coastal Plain Upland Longleaf Pine Woodland 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.
- Ridge and Valley Calcareous Valley Bottom Glade and Woodland Winter.
- Southeastern Interior Longleaf Pine Woodland Winter.
- Southern Piedmont Small Floodplain and Riparian Forest 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 (20)
- Arkansas Valley Prairie and Woodland Winter.
- Atlantic Coastal Plain Blackwater Stream Floodplain Forest - Forest Modifier Winter.
- Atlantic Coastal Plain Clay-Based Carolina Bay Herbaceous Wetland Winter.
- Central Interior and Appalachian Shrub-Herbaceous Wetland Systems Winter.
- Developed, Low Intensity Winter.
- Developed, Medium Intensity Winter.
- Eastern Great Plains Floodplain Systems Winter.
- Eastern Great Plains Wet Meadow, Prairie, and Marsh Winter.
- Gulf and Atlantic Coastal Plain Tidal Marsh Systems 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.
- Southern Piedmont Large Floodplain Forest - Forest Modifier Winter.
- Western Great Plains Depressional Wetland Systems Winter.
- Western Great Plains Floodplain Systems Winter.
Seasons in West Virginia
- Winter: does not nest here, in all 55 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
- Appalachian Woodland SedgeCarex austrolucorum
- Awned SedgeCarex atherodes
- Bebb's SedgeCarex bebbii
- Bottlebrush SedgeCarex hystericina
- Carex atlantica subsp. atlanticaCarex atlantica subsp. atlantica
- Carex atlantica subsp. capillaceaCarex atlantica subsp. capillacea
- Carex bromoides subsp. bromoidesCarex bromoides subsp. bromoides
- Carex brunnescens subsp. sphaerostachyaCarex brunnescens subsp. sphaerostachya
- Carex communis var. communisCarex communis var. communis
- Carex scoparia var. scopariaCarex scoparia var. scoparia
- Carex tonsa var. tonsaCarex tonsa var. tonsa
- Cloud SedgeCarex haydenii
- Coupled SedgeCarex laxiculmis var. copulata
- Davis SedgeCarex davisii
- Dioecious SedgeCarex sterilis
- False Summer SedgeCarex × aestivaliformis
- Few-flower SedgeCarex pauciflora
- Inland SedgeCarex interior
- Lakebank SedgeCarex lacustris
- Necklace Spike SedgeCarex ormostachya
- New England SedgeCarex novae-angliae
- Northern SedgeCarex deflexa
- Prairie SedgeCarex prairea
- Prairie Straw SedgeCarex suberecta
Plant genera in its diet records (9)
- Carex Seeds. 24 diet records. 161 native plants in West Virginia
- Eriophorum Seeds. 4 diet records. 1 native plant in West Virginia
- Empetrum Seeds. 3 diet records. 0 native plants in West Virginia
- Vaccinium Seeds and flowers. 3 diet records. 9 native plants in West Virginia
- Draba Seeds. 2 diet records. 1 native plant in West Virginia
- Amaranthus Seeds. 1 diet record. 2 native plants in West Virginia
- Brassica Seeds. 1 diet record. 0 native plants in West Virginia
- Picea Seeds. 1 diet record. 1 native plant in West Virginia
- Scirpus Seeds. 1 diet record. 11 native plants in West Virginia
Also found in its main habitats
Its main habitats in West 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 103
- Blue-winged TealAnas discors
- CanvasbackAythya valisineria
- GadwallAnas strepera
- Least BitternIxobrychus exilis
- Marsh WrenCistothorus palustris
- Ruddy DuckOxyura jamaicensis
- Snowy EgretEgretta thula
- American PipitAnthus rubescens
- SoraPorzana carolina
- Lincoln's SparrowMelospiza lincolnii
- Snowy OwlBubo scandiacus
- Virginia RailRallus limicola
Plants 303
- Peach Leaf WillowSalix amygdaloides
- White Panicled Aster; Eastern Lined AsterSymphyotrichum lanceolatum var. latifolium
- Rudbeckia fulgida var. spathulataRudbeckia fulgida var. spathulata
- Shagbark HickoryCarya ovata
- Spreading SedgeCarex laxiculmis
- Blunt Broom SedgeCarex tribuloides
- Mountain SilverbellHalesia carolina
- Smooth Hedge-nettleStachys tenuifolia
- Common Cup-plantSilphium perfoliatum
- Camphor PlucheaPluchea camphorata
- Virginia Cup-plantSilphium perfoliatum var. connatum
- Heartleaf NettleUrtica chamaedryoides
Roadsides, fields and disturbed ground
Birds 96
- Cape May WarblerDendroica tigrina
- House SparrowPasser domesticus
- Upland SandpiperBartramia longicauda
- Rock PigeonColumba livia
- DickcisselSpiza americana
- DunlinCalidris alpina
- Grasshopper SparrowAmmodramus savannarum
- Hoary RedpollCarduelis hornemanni
- Lapland LongspurCalcarius lapponicus
- MerlinFalco columbarius
- Purple MartinProgne subis
- Ring-necked PheasantPhasianus colchicus
Plants 905
- Pussy WillowSalix discolor
- Crooked-stem AsterSymphyotrichum prenanthoides
- Long Stalk AsterSymphyotrichum dumosum var. dumosum
- Canada LettuceLactuca canadensis
- Annual FleabaneErigeron annuus
- Bushy KnotweedPolygonum ramosissimum subsp. prolificum
- Carey's KnotweedPersicaria careyi
- Carolina Crane's-billGeranium carolinianum
- Common Evening-primroseOenothera biennis
- Cutleaf Evening-primroseOenothera laciniata
- Northern Evening-primroseOenothera parviflora
- Oakes Evening PrimroseOenothera oakesiana
All of roadsides, fields and disturbed ground in West Virginia
Forest edges and thickets
Birds 63
- Hoary RedpollCarduelis hornemanni
- House FinchCarpodacus mexicanus
- Vesper SparrowPooecetes gramineus
- Wilson's WarblerWilsonia pusilla
- Field SparrowSpizella pusilla
- Barn SwallowHirundo rustica
- Henslow's SparrowAmmodramus henslowii
- Lark SparrowChondestes grammacus
- Palm WarblerDendroica palmarum
- Ring-necked PheasantPhasianus colchicus
- Savannah SparrowPasserculus sandwichensis
- Willow FlycatcherEmpidonax traillii
Plants 204
- Bristly BlackberryRubus setosus
- Rubus invisusRubus invisus
- Tall LarkspurDelphinium exaltatum
- Northeastern BindweedCalystegia sepium subsp. americana
- Canada PlumPrunus nigra
- ChokecherryPrunus virginiana var. virginiana
- Fire CherryPrunus pensylvanica
- Silky DogwoodCornus obliqua
- Giant SunflowerHelianthus giganteus
- Gray DogwoodCornus racemosa
- Buffalo CloverTrifolium reflexum
- Cutleaf GoldenrodSolidago arguta
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