GAP Analysis Predicted Distribution Map

Brewer's Sparrow (Spizella breweri)

Species Code: SPBR

This is an "at risk" species

Legend:
= Core Habitat
= Marginal Habitat

Breeding Range Map
The green area shows the predicted habitats for breeding only. The habitats were identified using 1991 satellite imagery, Breeding Bird Atlas (BBA), other datasets and experts throughout the state, as part of the Washington Gap Analysis Project. Habitats used during non-breeding months and migratory rest-stops were not mapped.

Metadata (Data about data or how the map was made)

Click to enlarge distribution map

Map with Breeding Bird Atlas records

Other maps & Information:

Breeding Bird Atlas
NatureMapping observations
during breeding season
NatureMapping observations
throughout the year

This sparrow is common in shrub-steppe habitats in higher areas of the Columbia Basin and Okanogan valley. It is less common in the Methow valley, but local and uncommon in the hottests parts of the southern Columbia Basin. It is most abundant in tracts of sage brush. A small population still exists in Asotin County in remnant patches. This sparrow is a local and rare breeder elsewhere in isolated grassland habitats, such as in the Spokane valley (Spokane County) and Little Pend Oreille National Wildlife Refuge (Stevens County).

The core of this species is in steppe zones, within its current known breeding range. Grasslands shrub savanna, shrublands, and tree savanna were good habitats; not modeled in the Spokane valley or in Stevens County. Preference is given to patches with taller and denser shrubs where nests are placed in the shrub canopy. An experiment involving burned patches of sagebrush with complete shrub loss showed a dramatic decrease in Brewer's Sparrow numbers in the following two years, followed by an increase in the third year, when numbers were higher than in adjacent unburned patches.

Translated from the Washington Gap Analysis Bird Volume by Uchenna Bright
Text edited by Gussie Litwer
Webpage designed by Dave Lester