The Chipping Sparrow (Spizella passerina) is about 5 inches long. It is brown above and streaked with black; the underparts and face are grey. It has a chestnut crown and white eyebrow and a black streak running through the eye. In juveniles the crown is streaked.
Its call is a one-note musical trill -- a whirring sound.
This sparrow is widespread throughout North America. The nest is a grass cup placed in shrubs and is almost always lined with hair, which has earned this bird the name of "hairbird." The clutch consists of from 3 to 5 pale blue eggs blotched with brown. The incubation period is from 11 to 14 days.
Its diet consists mostly of seeds but it will also take insects.
