Fox Sparrow

Call and song

• Recording 1 · song

  Recording: Jonathon Jongsma · Xeno-canto · CC-BY-SA 4.0 (licence)

• Recording 2

  Recording: Matthew D. Medler; Cornell Lab of Ornithology | Macaulay Library

• Recording 3

  Recording: Gavin Aquila; Cornell Lab of Ornithology | Macaulay Library

About the Fox Sparrow

Large, dark sparrow with extensive geographic variation. Larger than Song Sparrow, and generally darker with thicker streaking. Four groups of subspecies: Red (only subspecies found in eastern U.S., but breeds to Alaska), Slate-colored (Rockies), Sooty (Pacific Northwest), Thick-billed (California). Habitat varies across range, but generally breeds in forests with thick understory, often with plenty of conifers. In winter, tends to occur in dense thickets. Forages mainly on the ground in search of seeds. Visits feeders.

Species account: eBird.org, fetched 2025-12-26 · How these pages are made

Where it has been recorded

Recorded in 10 of the 253 countries we have eBird lists for. Each opens that country's checklist.

• Bermuda
• Canada
• Estonia
• Finland
• High Seas
• Iceland
• Mexico
• Russia
• Saint Pierre and Miquelon
• United States