Clay-colored Sparrow Photos

Photography by Terry Sohl

My Favorite: Sparrow migration in both the spring and fall can be just spectacular in eastern South Dakota, with a number of species moving through, or in the spring, arriving for the summer breeding season. I've gotten quite good at identifying them, as most are relatively easy to distinguish if you see them well. "If you see them well" is the key word here though! Clay-colored Sparrows are similar in appearance to multiple other sparrow species that can be found here, but they do have one feature that makes them relatively easy to identify...their buzzy vocalizations. But other than that unique singing voice, they're also a very elegant looking sparrow, with the gray nape and the multi-colored facial pattern. The photo below was taken on October 13th, 2013 in Minnehaha County, South Dakota.

Clay-colored Sparrow - Spizella pallida


Clay-colored Sparrow 1 October 7th, 2006 Outdoor Campus, South Dakota	Clay-colored Sparrow 2 October 7th, 2006 Outdoor Campus, South Dakota	Clay-colored Sparrow 3 October 7th, 2006 Outdoor Campus, South Dakota	Clay-colored Sparrow 4 October 13th, 2013 Minnehaha County, South Dakota

Clay-colored Sparrow 5 October 13th, 2013 Minnehaha County, South Dakota	Clay-colored Sparrow 6 October 13th, 2013 Minnehaha County, South Dakota	Clay-colored Sparrow 7 October 13th, 2013 Minnehaha County, South Dakota	Clay-colored Sparrow 8 May 30th, 2015 Kingsbury County, South Dakota

Clay-colored Sparrow 9 May 30th, 2015 Kingsbury County, South Dakota	Clay-colored Sparrow 10 May 4th, 2015 Minnehaha County, South Dakota	Clay-colored Sparrow 11 July 7th, 2019 Western Minnehaha County, South Dakota	Clay-colored Sparrow 12 July 7th, 2019 Western Minnehaha County, South Dakota

Clay-colored Sparrow 13 July 7th, 2019 Western Minnehaha County, South Dakota