Chipping Sparrow
Chipping Sparrow has held roughly steady: up 0% on the route-weighted index since 1968.
About the Chipping Sparrow
A small, neat sparrow with a rusty cap, the Chipping Sparrow is a common breeder of open woods, parks and yards, named for its dry trilling song.
- Size
- 4.5–6 in long, about 0.4 oz (12–15 cm, 12 g)
- Habitat
- Woodlands and forest edges, including wooded suburbs and parks.
- Diet
- Seeds for much of the year, with insects in the breeding season.
- Range
- Recorded on 3,367 Breeding Bird Survey routes across 49 states, most concentrated in the Appalachian Mountains.
- Family
- Passerellidae · Forest birds
- Conservation
- Least Concern
Notable Chipping Sparrow Trends
No notable trend signals for Chipping Sparrow. See the full index history below.
Chipping Sparrow Population Forecast
If the recent trend holds, Chipping Sparrow is projected to rise about 15% by 2029 — from 9.0 in 2024 to a central estimate of 10 (95% range 8.8–12). A 5-year backtest shows a typical error of ±17%, with 20% of held-out values landing inside the 95% band.
| Year | Projected index | 95% low | 95% high |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 10 | 8.7 | 12 |
| 2026 | 10 | 8.7 | 12 |
| 2027 | 10 | 8.8 | 12 |
| 2028 | 10 | 8.8 | 12 |
| 2029 | 10 | 8.8 | 12 |
Where the Chipping Sparrow Is Detected
BBS routes recording Chipping Sparrow, sized by most recent count.
Chipping Sparrow Population Trend by State
| Alabama | +41% | 1968 | 93 |
| Alaska | -39% | 1990 | 36 |
| Arizona | -15% | 1970 | 41 |
| Arkansas | -44% | 1969 | 50 |
| California | -57% | 1970 | 177 |
| Colorado | +152% | 1970 | 110 |
| Connecticut | +30% | 1968 | 20 |
| Delaware | +49% | 1968 | 17 |
| Florida | insufficient data | n/a | 6 |
| Georgia | +98% | 1968 | 90 |
| Idaho | +61% | 1970 | 58 |
| Illinois | 13× | 1968 | 105 |
| Indiana | +308% | 1968 | 69 |
| Iowa | +645% | 1969 | 39 |
| Kansas | 12× | 1972 | 45 |
| Kentucky | +2% | 1968 | 64 |
| Louisiana | +24% | 1969 | 46 |
| Maine | +97% | 1968 | 74 |
| Maryland | +59% | 1968 | 76 |
| Massachusetts | +109% | 1968 | 32 |
| Michigan | +65% | 1968 | 108 |
| Minnesota | +48% | 1969 | 92 |
| Mississippi | +788% | 1968 | 55 |
| Missouri | +202% | 1969 | 94 |
| Montana | +12% | 1970 | 94 |
| Nebraska | +612% | 1969 | 66 |
| Nevada | +28% | 1972 | 27 |
| New Hampshire | +88% | 1968 | 26 |
| New Jersey | +41% | 1968 | 43 |
| New Mexico | +25% | 1970 | 49 |
| New York | +20% | 1968 | 129 |
| North Carolina | +48% | 1968 | 110 |
| North Dakota | +616% | 1969 | 50 |
| Ohio | +162% | 1968 | 89 |
| Oklahoma | -0% | 1969 | 35 |
| Oregon | -23% | 1970 | 116 |
| Pennsylvania | +1% | 1968 | 138 |
| Rhode Island | +413% | 1968 | 6 |
| South Carolina | +48% | 1968 | 51 |
| South Dakota | +29% | 1969 | 50 |
| Tennessee | +61% | 1968 | 54 |
| Texas | -33% | 1969 | 80 |
| Utah | +57% | 1970 | 96 |
| Vermont | -9% | 1968 | 26 |
| Virginia | -4% | 1968 | 88 |
| Washington | -18% | 1970 | 78 |
| West Virginia | -40% | 1968 | 63 |
| Wisconsin | +85% | 1968 | 98 |
| Wyoming | -19% | 1970 | 108 |
Chipping Sparrow Population Trend by Region
Bird Conservation Regions are the ecological unit for trends.
| BCR 4 | +1% | 1990 | 27 |
| Northern Pacific Rainforest | -85% | 1970 | 114 |
| Great Basin | +35% | 1970 | 178 |
| Northern Rockies | -25% | 1970 | 209 |
| Prairie Potholes | +593% | 1969 | 111 |
| Boreal Hardwood Transition | +0% | 1968 | 127 |
| Lower Great Lakes / St. Lawrence Plain | +70% | 1968 | 86 |
| Atlantic Northern Forest | +34% | 1968 | 152 |
| Sierra Nevada | -30% | 1970 | 39 |
| Southern Rockies / Colorado Plateau | +46% | 1970 | 220 |
| Badlands and Prairies | -21% | 1969 | 103 |
| Shortgrass Prairie | -69% | 1971 | 33 |
| Central Mixed Grass Prairie | +645% | 1969 | 79 |
| Edwards Plateau | -26% | 1970 | 18 |
| Oaks and Prairies | -14% | 1969 | 25 |
| Eastern Tallgrass Prairie | +581% | 1968 | 273 |
| Prairie Hardwood Transition | +178% | 1968 | 161 |
| Central Hardwoods | -1% | 1968 | 166 |
| West Gulf Coastal Plain / Ouachitas | -23% | 1969 | 96 |
| Mississippi Alluvial Valley | +2% | 1968 | 25 |
| Southeastern Coastal Plain | +204% | 1968 | 259 |
| Appalachian Mountains | -14% | 1968 | 402 |
| Piedmont | +57% | 1968 | 171 |
| New England / Mid-Atlantic Coast | +54% | 1968 | 163 |
| Coastal California | -74% | 1970 | 77 |
| Sonoran and Mojave Deserts | -65% | 1976 | 5 |
| Sierra Madre Occidental | -13% | 1970 | 26 |
| Chihuahuan Desert | -58% | 1974 | 13 |
Chipping Sparrow Conservation Status
Least Concern
The IUCN Red List rates this species as Least Concern. Our route-weighted index has held roughly steady since 1968.
Source: USGS North American Breeding Bird Survey, retrieved 2026-05-22. Trend is a route-weighted relative-abundance index, not an absolute population.