The Rufous-winged Sparrow, Peucaea carpalis, is a slender sparrow

Sparrow

The sparrows are a family of small passerine birds, Passeridae. They are also known as true sparrows, or Old World sparrows, names also used for a genus of the family, Passer...

 with a gray face and a brown streak which extends behind the eyes.

Description

The back is brown with darker streaks, while the belly is pale gray. The wings and crown are rust colored. The sparrow has a yellow, conical bill, and a long, brown tail.

Distribution and habitat

P. carpalis is a year-round resident from south-central Arizona

Arizona

Arizona ; is a state located in the southwestern region of the United States. It is also part of the western United States and the mountain west. The capital and largest city is Phoenix...

 south into Mexico

Mexico

The United Mexican States , commonly known as Mexico , is a federal constitutional republic in North America. It is bordered on the north by the United States; on the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; on the southeast by Guatemala, Belize, and the Caribbean Sea; and on the east by the Gulf of...

.

The Rufous-winged sparrow inhabits desert grassland

Grassland

Grasslands are areas where the vegetation is dominated by grasses and other herbaceous plants . However, sedge and rush families can also be found. Grasslands occur naturally on all continents except Antarctica...

s scattered with thorn bushes, bunch grasses, mesquite

Mesquite

Mesquite is a leguminous plant of the Prosopis genus found in northern Mexico through the Sonoran Desert and Chihuahuan Deserts, and up into the Southwestern United States as far north as southern Kansas, west to the Colorado Desert in California,and east to the eastern fifth of Texas, where...

, or cholla

Cholla

Cholla can refer to the following things:* Cholla cacti, a genus of cyllindrically-stemmed cacti* Cholla , a painting horse born in Nevada* Jeolla , former Korean province...

. It also occurs in washes with sandy bottoms and vegetated slopes, brushy irrigation ditches, and creeks bordered by broad-leaved trees, mesquite, grasses, and weeds. The sparrow prefers grassy areas with scattered shrubs that are thorny and dense.

Diet

During the breeding season, A. carpalis feeds on a variety of insects caught on the wing

Hawking (birds)

Hawking is a feeding strategy in birds involving catching flying insects in the air. The term usually refers to a technique of sallying out from a perch to snatch an insect and then returning to the same or a different perch...

 or gleaned

Gleaning (birds)

Gleaning is a term for a feeding strategy by birds in which they catch invertebrate prey, mainly arthropods, by plucking them from foliage or the ground, from crevices such as rock faces and under the eaves of houses, or even, as in the case of ticks and lice, from living animals. This behavior is...

 off plant surfaces. At other times, the bird eats grass and weed seeds.

Breeding

P. carpalis breeds during the monsoon

Monsoon

Monsoon is traditionally defined as a seasonal reversing wind accompanied by corresponding changes in precipitation, but is now used to describe seasonal changes in atmospheric circulation and precipitation associated with the asymmetric heating of land and sea...

 months of July and August. The nest is built low to the ground in the edges of bushes such as hackberry, palo verde

Palo Verde

-Botany:*Palo Verde trees, several species of the genus Parkinsonia **Mexican Palo Verde **Blue Palo Verde **Yellow or Foothill Palo Verde gay-Places:...

, cholla cacti, or mesquite. The average clutch size is four, and the sparrow can have two broods per year.

History in Pima County, Arizona

The Rufous-Winged Sparrow in Pima County

Pima County, Arizona

-2010:Whereas according to the 2010 U.S. Census Bureau:*74.3% White*3.5% Black*3.3% Native American*2.6% Asian*0.2% Native Hawaiian or Pacific Islander*3.7% Two or more races*12.4% Other races*34.6% Hispanic or Latino -2000:...

: This species was first discovered in 1872, near old Fort Lowell, Tucson

Tucson, Arizona

Tucson is a city in and the county seat of Pima County, Arizona, United States. The city is located 118 miles southeast of Phoenix and 60 miles north of the U.S.-Mexico border. The 2010 United States Census puts the city's population at 520,116 with a metropolitan area population at 1,020,200...

, where it was described as "very common". In 1881, the sparrow was found:

"sparingly about Tucson and Camp Lowell. It inhabited the mesquite thickets, keeping closely hidden in the bunches of 'sacaton' grass, from which, when flushed, it flew into the branches above."

After 1886, verified species records were exceedingly rare. The species was considered extinct in Arizona due to overgrazing. The rufous-winged sparrow was rediscovered in 1936, the first record in over fifty years. The sparrow now has records throughout much of eastern Pima County; in Canoa Ranch, Madera Canyon

Madera Canyon

Madera Canyon is a canyon on the northwestern face of the Santa Rita Mountains, located 25 miles southeast of Tucson, Arizona. As part of the Coronado National Forest, the canyon has campsites, picnic areas, and miles of hiking trails. The canyon is used as a resting place for migrating birds, and...

, Santa Rita

Santa Rita Mountains

The Santa Rita Mountains, located about 65 km southeast of Tucson, Arizona, extend 42 km from north to south, then trending southeast. They merge again southeastwards into the Patagonia Mountains, trending northwest by southeast...

 and Santa Catalina Mountains

Santa Catalina Mountains

The Santa Catalina Mountains, commonly referred to as the Catalina Mountains, are located north, and northeast of Tucson, Arizona, United States, on Tucson's north perimeter. The mountain range is the most prominent in the Tucson area, with the highest average elevation...

, and in areas around Tucson. Loss of habitat as a result of overgrazing and urban development is believed to have had the greatest effect on populations.