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Black-throated Sparrow

Black-throated Sparrow (Amphispiza bilineata)

Sparrows Casual
Black-throated Sparrow

Black-throated Sparrow - CSU San Bernardino
© Tom Benson

Black-throated Sparrow

Black-throated Sparrow - CSU San Bernardino
© Tom Benson

The Black-throated Sparrow is a casual visitor to campus: one was seen 16-19 Nov 2015 in a stand of coastal sage scrub that is now parking lot N. It is a common year-round resident in the deserts of southern California, and a casual visitor to the coast in fall and winter.

Adult Black-throated Sparrows can be identified by their black throat and breast, brown head and upperparts, and white supercilium (line above the eye) and moustachial stripe (between the brown cheek and black throat), and white belly. Juveniles are similar to adults but have white underparts with faint streaking across the breast.