Zonotrichia querula
The Harris's Sparrow, *Zonotrichia querula*, is North America's largest sparrow, a striking and somewhat enigmatic species known for its bold black and white head pattern and soft pink bill. Measuring 17-20 cm in length with a wingspan of 27-30 cm and weighing 30-40 grams, adults boast a distinctive black crown, face, and bib, contrasting sharply with white cheeks and underparts, and buffy-brown flanks streaked with dark brown. Immature birds exhibit a less defined, often mottled black bib an...
Breeds in subarctic tundra-taiga transition zones, featuring stunted spruce, tamarack, willow, and birch thickets. Winters in open country, shrubby fields, grasslands, and suburban areas, often near dense cover or water sources.
Primarily omnivorous, consuming insects and berries during the breeding season, and shifting to a diet mainly of seeds (from grasses, weeds, and agricultural waste) in winter.
Harris's Sparrows are primarily diurnal, spending much of their time foraging on the ground, often scratching vigorously with both feet to uncover food. During the winter, they are highly gregarious, forming large flocks, sometimes mixed with other sparrow species, and these flocks exhibit distin...
The breeding range of the Harris's Sparrow is entirely within Canada, spanning the subarctic taiga-tundra ecotone from the Northwest Territories, eastern Nunavut, across northern Saskatchewan and Manitoba, and into parts of northern Ontario. During fall migration, these birds traverse the central...
Least Concern
- The Harris's Sparrow is the largest sparrow species found in North America. - It is the only songbird species that breeds exclusively within Canada, specifically in the remote subarctic boreal forest. - Its breeding grounds remained a mystery to ornithologists until 1931, when a Canadian expedi...