A Recent Breeding Record for the Chipping Sparrow from the Central Valley Floor

Abstract

I report on breeding in 2020 by the Chipping Sparrow (Spizella passerina) in an area out of it typical breeding range, at the Cosumnes River Preserve in Sacramento, California. The species was heard singing beginning in late April. A bird solicited copulation from a male Chipping Sparrow, and later adults were observed carrying food to recent begging fledglings. The nesting occurred in valley oak (Quercus lobata) savanna supporting small previously planted oaks near a permanent slough. Although the species appears to have historically bred regularly in lowlands of the Central Valley, recent depictions of breeding range exclude this area. The difficulty I had tracking the sparrows over their nesting season suggests the possibility of infrequent and undetected breeding elsewhere in the Central Valley.