Harris's Sparrow

Harris's Sparrow
Harris's Sparrow by Bob Hines
Conservation status
Least Concern (IUCN 3.1)
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Aves
Order:	Passeriformes
Family:	Emberizidae
Genus:	Zonotrichia
Species:	Z. querula
Binomial name
Zonotrichia querula (Nuttall, 1840)

Immature Harris's Sparrow which has a brown striped head as opposed to the black striped head of the mature breeding bird. Notice Orange (Pink) bill.

The Harris's Sparrow, Zonotrichia querula, is a large sparrow.

Their breeding habitat is the north part of central Canada (primarily the Northwest Territories and Nunavut, ranging slightly into northern Manitoba and Saskatchewan). In fact, this bird is Canada's only endemic breeder. In the winter they migrate to the Great Plains states of the United States, from lower South Dakota to upper Texas.

The common name of this species commemorates the American amateur ornithologist Edward Harris (1799–1863).

References

• BirdLife International (2004). Zonotrichia querula. 2006. IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. IUCN 2006. www.iucnredlist.org. Retrieved on 12 May 2006. Database entry includes justification for why this species is of least concern

Further reading

• Norment, CJ. Ph.D. (2007). Return to Warden's Grove: Science, desire, and the lives of sparrows. Iowa City, IA: University of Iowa Press.

• Norment, C. J. and S. A. Shackleton. 1993. Harris’s Sparrow (Zonotrichia querula). In The Birds of North America, No. 64 (A. Poole and F. Gill, Eds.). Philadelphia: The Academy of Natural Sciences; Washington, D.C.: The American Ornithologists’ Union.

External links

• Harris's Sparrow Information and Photos - South Dakota Birds and Birding
• Harris's Sparrow Species Account - Cornell Lab of Ornithology
• Harris's Sparrow - Zonotrichia querula - USGS Patuxent Bird Identification InfoCenter
• Harris's Sparrow photo gallery VIREO