- Aimophila ruficeps
Identification
Gray head with rufous crown, marked white eye-ring, rufous line behind the eye, dark moustachial and malar stripes on sides of face. Gray-brown above, underparts gray, long-tail.
Legs and feet pink,.
Distribution
California, south into northern Baja California, also mountains on southern tip of Baja California; Arizona, New Mexico, north and central Texas, northwest and central Oklahoma, west and central Mexico.
Taxonomy
Subspecies
This is a polytypic species which consists of twelve subspecies[1]:
- A. r. ruficeps: Coastal ranges of central California and western slopes of Sierra Nevada
- A. r. canescens: South-western California and north-eastern Baja California (east to base of San Pedro Mártir)
- A. r. obscura: Channel Islands (Santa Cruz, Anacapa and Catalina)
- A. r. sanctorum: Todos Santos Islands (off north-western Baja California)
- A. r. sororia: Mountains of southern Baja California (Sierra de la Laguna)
- A. r. scottii: Northern Arizona to New Mexico, north-eastern Sonora and north-western Coahuila
- A. r. rupicola: Mountains of south-western Arizona
- A. r. simulans: North-western Mexico (south-eastern Sonora and south-western Chihuahua to Nayarit and northern Jalisco)
- A. r. eremoeca: South-eastern Colorado to New Mexico, Texas, northern Chihuahua and central Coahuila
- A. r. fusca: Western Mexico (southern Nayarit to south-western Jalisco, northern Colima and Michoacán)
- A. r. boucardi: Eastern Mexico (southern Coahuila to San Luis Potosí, northern Puebla and south Oaxaca)
- A. r. australis: Southern Mexico (Guerrero to southern Puebla and Oaxaca)
Habitat
Rocky, brushy slopes, hillsides and canyons.
Behaviour
A secretive sparrow, most often only heard.
Vocalisation
Song: a bubbling series of chip notes, similar to a House Wren.
References
- Clements, J. F., P. C. Rasmussen, T. S. Schulenberg, M. J. Iliff, T. A. Fredericks, J. A. Gerbracht, D. Lepage, A. Spencer, S. M. Billerman, B. L. Sullivan, M. Smith, and C. L. Wood. 2024. The eBird/Clements checklist of Birds of the World: v2024. Downloaded from https://www.birds.cornell.edu/clementschecklist/download/
Recommended Citation
- BirdForum Opus contributors. (2025) Rufous-crowned Sparrow. In: BirdForum, the forum for wild birds and birding. Retrieved 11 May 2025 from https://www.birdforum.net/opus/Rufous-crowned_Sparrow
External Links
GSearch checked for 2020 platform.1
