Distribution

Breeding Range

Figures 1 and 2 . Red Fox Sparrow (iliaca group) (breeds from n. and w. Alaska (north to Brooks Range), n. Yukon, sw. Northwest Territories, extreme sw. Nunavut, n. Manitoba, n. Ontario, n. Quebec, n. Labrador, and n. Newfoundland south to southern interior of Alaska, central interior and n.-central British Columbia (south to Dease Lake and Peace River parklands), s.-central Alberta, n. (locally south to central) Saskatchewan, n.-central Manitoba, n.-central Ontario, s. Quebec (south to Abitibi, Laurentides, and ChaudiËre-Appalachers regions, Anticosti I., and Magdalen Is.), extreme nw. Maine, nw. New Brunswick, Prince Edward I., coastal Nova Scotia, and s. Newfoundland (Godfrey 1986; Adamus 1987; Rising 1987, 1996; Erskine 1992; Semenchuk 1992; Bisson and Limoges 1996; Smith 1996; Am. Ornithol. Union 1998).

Sooty Fox Sparrow (unalaschcensis group) breeds on e. Aleutian islands (west to Unalaska), Shumagin and Semidi Is., Alaska Peninsula, Kodiak and Middleton Is., Kenai Peninsula, s.-coastal and se. Alaska, and coastal districts of British Columbia (including Queen Charlotte Is.) south to Destruction and Lopez Is. of extreme nw. Washington (Rising 1996, Am. Ornithol. Union 1998).

Slate-colored Fox Sparrow (schistacea group) breeds from central interior British Columbia (Crowsnest Pass), sw. Alberta (Waterton Lakes Park), south through central and e. Washington, n.-central and e. Oregon, Idaho, and w. Montana to n. and central Nevada (extending west to White Mtns. of extreme e.-central California), central Utah, w. and (locally in) central Wyoming, and throughout western half of Colorado (Oakleaf et al. 1992, Rising 1996, Smith et al. 1997, Am. Ornithol. Union 1998, Potter and Roth 1998, Adamus et al. 2001, Nevada Breeding Bird Atlas [BBA] 1997–2000 unpubl.).

Large-billed Fox Sparrow (megarhyncha group) breeds from central portions of w. Oregon and from s.-central Oregon south through California, including northern and inner Coast Ranges, Siskiyou and Warner Mtns., and in Sierra Nevada to Mono Lake district and Greenhorn Mtns., and mountains of s. California (Big Pine Mtn., Mt. Pinos, San Gabriel, San Bernardino, San Jacinto, and Palomar Mtns. and Cuyamaca Peak) and extreme w. Nevada (Small 1994, Rising 1996, Am. Ornithol. Union 1998, Adamus et al. 2001). Recently found by Erickson and Wurster (1998) breeding in Sierra San Pedro M·rtir, Baja California.

Winter Range

Figure 1 . Red Fox Sparrow (iliaca group) winters principally east of the Great Plains from se. Minnesota, s. Wisconsin, s. Michigan, southernmost Ontario, central Pennsylvania, se. New York, n. Massachusetts, s. New Hampshire, coastal Maine, coastal New Brunswick (very rare), coastal Nova Scotia (local), and coastal s. Newfoundland (local) south to eastern half of Texas, s. Louisiana, s. Mississippi, s. Alabama, and n. Florida. Small numbers also winter in the Pacific Coastal Region (rare), principally in interior from Washington south to nw. Baja California. Winters irregularly farther north and west of main range in e. North America and rarely to s. Florida. Casual or very local in interior California, s. Arizona, s. New Mexico, and Sonora, Mexico (Russell and Lamm 1978, Rising 1996, Am. Ornithol. Union 1998, Garrett et al. 2000, Christmas Bird Count [CBC] data), but occasionally observed elsewhere in central and w. North America, including Wainwright and the Barrow region of Alaska and on Banks I., Nunavut (Garrett et al. 2000), north of its breeding distribution.

Sooty Fox Sparrow (unalaschcensis group) winters in Pacific coastal region from se. Alaska (rarely) and central British Columbia south through Washington and Oregon to s. California, rarely to nw. Baja California. Has occurred casually to se. Arizona (Chiricahua Mtns.; Phillips et al. 1964) and there is 1 record from winter of 1994–1995 from Burlington, ND (Garrett et al. 2000). Also recorded during winter on Nunivak, the Priblofs, St. Lawrence I., and Point Barrow in n. Alaska (Rising 1996, Garrett et al. 2000).

Slate-colored Fox Sparrow (schistacea group) winters from n. interior California, central Arizona, and n. New Mexico south to s. California, n. Baja California, and rarely in s. Arizona, n. Sonora, and w. Texas (Rising 1996, Am. Ornithol. Union 1998, Garrett et al. 2000). Also occurred during winter or spring migration in w. Nebraska (Am. Ornithol. Union 1957), Manitoba (Am. Ornithol. Union 1957), and New York (Buckley 1974).

Large-billed Fox Sparrow (megarhyncha group) winters from central California south to s. California and n. Baja California (Am. Ornithol. Union 1998, Garrett et al. 2000), and there are 2 records from w. Arizona (Phillips et al. 1964).

Red Fox Sparrows (iliaca group) recorded at least twice in w. Greenland (Boertmann 1994) and 5 times in Europe, including Borg, Iceland, on 5 Nov 1944 (Cramp and Perrins 1994); Copeland I. (Down), Ireland, on 3–4 Jun 1961 (Wilde 1962, Dymond et al. 1989); Mellum I., Germany, on 13 May 1949 (Niethammer et al. 1964, Cramp and Perrins 1994); Scharhorn I., Germany, on 24 Apr 1977 (Schmid 1979); and Liguria, Italy, in 1936 (Brichetti and Massa 1984, Cramp and Perrins 1994). Schmid (1979) suggested that the Red Fox Sparrow found on Scharhorn I. was likely a ship-assisted vagrant and that E. Stresemann thought that the Mellum I. record was also ship-assisted. Sooty Fox Sparrow (unalaschcensis group) recorded in Russia (Uel’kal’, Kresta Bay, Chukchi Peninsula, on 28 Jun 1961; Rising 1996, Garrett et al. 2000) and in Japan (once in fall and once in winter; Brazil 1991, Am. Ornithol. Union 1998).

On west slope of Oregon Cascades, logging sometime after 1941 created large expanses of brushy new growth (Banks 1970). On 21 Jun 1960, Banks (1970) collected a P. i. fulva in Linn Co., OR, where breeding Fox Sparrows were previously unknown. On 24 Jul 1968, at another locality in Linn Co., OR, Harry Nehls and William Thackberry found a breeding population of P. i. megarhyncha and collected 1 individual (Banks 1970). Banks (1970) attributed these new breeding records to logging operations opening up new habitat suitable for Fox Sparrows and questioned whether this habitat alteration brought P. i. megarhyncha and P. i. fulva into sympatry in this region.

Two records from e. North America, including one from a late Pleistocene (approx. 11,300 yr before present) cave deposit, Sinkhole No. 4 at New Paris, Bedford Co., PA (Guilday et al. 1964) and another from the Natural Chimneys, north of Mt. Solon, VA (Wetmore 1962). The Wetmore (1962) specimen is the symphysis of the lower mandible of a Fox Sparrow, similar to that of the iliaca subspecies. In w. North America, at least 4 fragmentary Fox Sparrow fossils have been found. Two Fox Sparrow lower mandibles found in Pleistocene deposits at Rancho La Brea, CA, were reported by Dawson (1948). The ramus of one of these specimens measures 25.2 mm, corresponding to subspecies stephensi, brevicauda, or megarhyncha, whereas the other measures 22 mm, corresponding to measurements of subspecies iliaca, townsendi, fuliginosa, canescens, and some populations of megarhyncha (Dawson 1948). Also, a fragmentary Fox Sparrow lower mandible was found in fossiliferous asphalt accumulations near Carpinteria, Santa Barbara Co., CA by Miller (1932). Although Miller (1932) was unable to determine to which subspecies this fragment belongs, he acknowledged that the fossil did not represent any of the forms with an extremely large bill (stephensi, mariposae [= megarhyncha], brevicauda) or slightly enlarged bill (iliaca). Instead, mandible is from one of the subspecies with an intermediate bill size (townsendi, fuliginosa, fulva). A tarsometatarsus found at the same site was also referable to P. iliaca (Miller 1932).