The Brewer’s Sparrow is a small sparrow of about 12-15 cm in length. Its distinguishing features include a notched tail, conical bill, a finely streaked brown crown, and a defined white eye ring. The underside of the Brewer’s Sparrow is dullish white and gray in color, while the rest of the plumage is brown intermingled with black streaks. The Brewer’s Sparrow has a distinctive song consisting of a series of buzzes and trills (Rotenberry et al. 1999).

Life History information provided for the Brewer's Sparrow is summarized from the Birds of North America Online (http://bna.birds.cornell.edu/bna/).

References Cited in Species Profile

• American Ornithologists' Union (AOU). 1998. Check-list of North American birds. Seventh edition. American Ornithologists' Union, Washington, D.C. [as modified by subsequent supplements and corrections published in The Auk]. Also available online: http://www.aou.org/
• Best, L. B. and K. L. Petersen. 1985. Seasonal changes in detectability of Sage and Brewer's Sparrows. Condor 87:556-558.
• Dawson, W. R., C. Carey, C. S. Adkisson, and R. D. Ohmart. 1979. Responses of Brewer's and Chipping sparrows to water restriction. Physiol. Zool. 52:529-541.
• Dunning, J. B. and J. H. Brown. 1982. Summer rainfall and winter sparrow densities: a test of the food limitation hypothesis. Auk 99:123-129.
• Harrison, C. 1978. A field guide to the nests, eggs, and nestlings of North American birds. Collins and Sons, Glasgow, UK.
• Knick, S. T. and J. T. Rotenberry. 1995. Landscape characteristics of shrubsteppe habitats and breeding passerine birds. Conserv. Biol. 9:1059-1071.
• Knopf, F. L., J. A. Sedgwick, and D. B. Inkley. 1990. Regional correspondence among shrubsteppe bird habitats. Condor 92:45-53.
• Linsdale, J. M. 1936. Coloration of downy young birds and of nest linings. Condor 38:111-117.
• Paine, R. T. 1968. Brewer's Sparrow. Pages 1208-1217 in Life histories of North American cardinals, grosbeaks, buntings, towhees, finches, sparrows, and allies. (Austin, Jr., O. L., Ed.) U.S. Natl. Museum Bull. 237, Pt. 2.
• Petersen, K. L. and L. B. Best. 1985. Brewer's Sparrow nest-site characteristics in a sagebrush community. J. Field Ornithol. 56:23-27.
• Rich, T. D. G. 1980. Nest placement in Sage Thrashers, Sage Sparrows, and Brewer's Sparrows. Wilson Bull. 92:362-368.
• Rising, J. D. 1996. A guide to the identification and natural history of the sparrows of the United States and Canada. Academic Press, San Diego, CA.
• Rotenberry, J. T. and J. A. Wiens. 1991. Weather and reproductive variation in shrubsteppe sparrows: a hierarchical analysis. Ecology 72:1325-1335.
• Rotenberry, J. T., M. A. Patten and K. L. Preston. 1999. Brewer's Sparrow (Spizella breweri), The Birds of North America Online (A. Poole, Ed.). Ithaca: Cornell Lab of Ornithology; Retrieved from the Birds of North America Online: http://bna.birds.cornell.edu/bna/species/390
• Sedgwick, J. A. 1987. Avian habitat relationships in pinyon-juniper woodland. Wilson Bull. 99:413-431.
• Wiens, J. A. and J. T. Rotenberry. 1981a. Habitat associations and community structure of birds in shrubsteppe environments. Ecol. Monogr. 51:21-41.