Sagebrush Sparrow

The sagebrush sparrow is about 12 to 15 cm (4.7 to 5.9 in) long and weighs about 15 to 22 g (0.53 to 0.78 oz). Males are larger than females but the sexes have the same plumage. Adults in fresh plumage have a mostly pale to medium gray head and nape. They have dusky gray lores, a white to buff-white patch above them, a white eye-ring, and sometimes a faint white supercilium and dark line behind the eye. They have a white streak below the ear coverts with sometimes a thin black stripe below it. Their back, rump, and uppertail coverts are brownish with fuscous streaks on the back. Voice: Only male sagebrush sparrows sing, and do so throughout the breeding season. The song is described as a "series of short musical buzzes on different frequencies with abrupt beginnings and endings". Males sing from atop a shrub or just below its top. The species' contact call is a "short musical tink" that often is repeated. It also makes a "sharper and shorter" warning call.