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Chipping Sparrow (Spizella passerina)
(c) Weston Barker, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC), uploaded by Weston Barker · CC BY-NC 4.0 (opens in a new tab) · iNaturalist (opens in a new tab)
BirdsIn Ohio

Chipping Sparrow

Spizella passerina (Bechstein, 1798)

Kingdom
Animalia
Phylum
Chordata
Class
Aves
Order
Passeriformes
Family
Passerellidae
Genus
Spizella
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Range

Where it is recorded

Season shown in 1 of Ohio's 88 counties. Its mapped range covers 88. Explore Ohio

  • No result yet (0)
  • Within its mapped range (8)
  • Recorded, too few records for a result (65)
  • Recorded, season not shown (14)
  • Season shown (1)
Boundaries: U.S. Census Bureau, 2025 Cartographic Boundary Files, 1:500,000. Range: USGS Gap Analysis Project, Species Range Maps CONUS_2001 (2018). Show as a table
Counties as a table
Chipping Sparrow by Ohio county: records and mapped range
CountyRecordsIn mapped range
Adams CountyRecorded, too few records for a resultYes: summer
Allen CountyRecorded, too few records for a resultYes: summer
Ashland CountyRecorded, too few records for a resultYes: summer
Ashtabula CountyRecorded, too few records for a resultYes: summer
Athens CountyRecorded, too few records for a resultYes: summer
Auglaize CountyRecorded, too few records for a resultYes: summer
Belmont CountyRecorded, too few records for a resultYes: summer
Brown CountyRecorded, too few records for a resultYes: summer
Butler County35 · Recorded, season not shownYes: summer
Carroll CountyRecorded, too few records for a resultYes: summer
Champaign CountyNo qualifying records yetYes: summer
Clark CountyRecorded, too few records for a resultYes: summer
Clermont County21 · Recorded, season not shownYes: summer
Clinton CountyRecorded, too few records for a resultYes: summer
Columbiana CountyRecorded, too few records for a resultYes: summer
Coshocton CountyRecorded, too few records for a resultYes: summer
Crawford CountyRecorded, too few records for a resultYes: summer
Cuyahoga County129 · Recorded, season not shownYes: summer
Darke CountyRecorded, too few records for a resultYes: summer
Defiance CountyRecorded, too few records for a resultYes: summer
Delaware CountyRecorded, too few records for a resultYes: summer
Erie CountyRecorded, too few records for a resultYes: summer
Fairfield CountyRecorded, too few records for a resultYes: summer
Fayette CountyRecorded, too few records for a resultYes: summer
Franklin County93 · Recorded, season not shownYes: summer
Fulton CountyNo qualifying records yetYes: summer
Gallia CountyRecorded, too few records for a resultYes: summer
Geauga CountyRecorded, too few records for a resultYes: summer
Greene County20 · Recorded, season not shownYes: summer
Guernsey CountyRecorded, too few records for a resultYes: summer
Hamilton County76 · Recorded, season not shownYes: summer
Hancock CountyRecorded, too few records for a resultYes: summer
Hardin CountyRecorded, too few records for a resultYes: summer
Harrison CountyRecorded, too few records for a resultYes: summer
Henry CountyRecorded, too few records for a resultYes: summer
Highland CountyRecorded, too few records for a resultYes: summer
Hocking CountyRecorded, too few records for a resultYes: summer
Holmes CountyRecorded, too few records for a resultYes: summer
Huron CountyRecorded, too few records for a resultYes: summer
Jackson CountyRecorded, too few records for a resultYes: summer
Jefferson CountyRecorded, too few records for a resultYes: summer
Knox CountyRecorded, too few records for a resultYes: summer
Lake County24 · Recorded, season not shownYes: summer
Lawrence CountyRecorded, too few records for a resultYes: summer
Licking County28 · Recorded, season not shownYes: summer
Logan CountyRecorded, too few records for a resultYes: summer
Lorain County33 · Recorded, season not shownYes: summer
Lucas County41 · Recorded, season not shownYes: summer
Madison CountyRecorded, too few records for a resultYes: summer
Mahoning CountyRecorded, too few records for a resultYes: summer
Marion CountyNo qualifying records yetYes: summer
Medina County28 · Recorded, season not shownYes: summer
Meigs CountyNo qualifying records yetYes: summer
Mercer CountyRecorded, too few records for a resultYes: summer
Miami CountyRecorded, too few records for a resultYes: summer
Monroe CountyNo qualifying records yetYes: summer
Montgomery County70 · Recorded, season not shownYes: summer
Morgan CountyNo qualifying records yetYes: summer
Morrow CountyRecorded, too few records for a resultYes: summer
Muskingum CountyRecorded, too few records for a resultYes: summer
Noble CountyRecorded, too few records for a resultYes: summer
Ottawa CountyRecorded, too few records for a resultYes: summer
Paulding CountyNo qualifying records yetYes: summer
Perry CountyNo qualifying records yetYes: summer
Pickaway CountyRecorded, too few records for a resultYes: summer
Pike CountyRecorded, too few records for a resultYes: summer
Portage County27 · Recorded, season not shownYes: summer
Preble CountyRecorded, too few records for a resultYes: summer
Putnam CountyRecorded, too few records for a resultYes: summer
Richland CountyRecorded, too few records for a resultYes: summer
Ross CountyRecorded, too few records for a resultYes: summer
Sandusky CountyRecorded, too few records for a resultYes: summer
Scioto CountyRecorded, too few records for a resultYes: summer
Seneca CountyRecorded, too few records for a resultYes: summer
Shelby CountyRecorded, too few records for a resultYes: summer
Stark County47 · Recorded, season not shownYes: summer
Summit County202 · Season shownYes: summer
Trumbull CountyRecorded, too few records for a resultYes: summer
Tuscarawas CountyRecorded, too few records for a resultYes: summer
Union CountyRecorded, too few records for a resultYes: summer
Van Wert CountyRecorded, too few records for a resultYes: summer
Vinton CountyRecorded, too few records for a resultYes: summer
Warren CountyRecorded, too few records for a resultYes: summer
Washington CountyRecorded, too few records for a resultYes: summer
Wayne CountyRecorded, too few records for a resultYes: summer
Williams CountyRecorded, too few records for a resultYes: summer
Wood CountyRecorded, too few records for a resultYes: summer
Wyandot CountyRecorded, too few records for a resultYes: summer

Season

When it is recorded

In Ohio

Early April to mid-October, middle week May 17–23

Show over the bars
Recording in Ohio · records of all species each week, 1,691,199 in all

Records per week from 1,809 records in 10 of the 10 years from 2016 to 2025. Shows when people recorded it, not how common it is. The grey bars show how many records of all species were made here each week, so you can see when recording itself was high or low; the season is not adjusted by them.

Recorded on 950 dates. Latest record: December 2025.

Show as a table
Records of Chipping Sparrow in Ohio each week, and records of all species
WeekRecords of Chipping SparrowYears recordedRecords of all species
Jan 4–10526,211
Jan 11–17325,146
Jan 18–24114,645
Jan 25–31224,698
Feb 1–7216,023
Feb 8–14225,888
Feb 15–21225,436
Feb 22–28006,846
Mar 1–7118,321
Mar 8–140010,384
Mar 15–211112,620
Mar 22–288613,949
Mar 29 – Apr 428919,661
Apr 5–11681026,860
Apr 12–18114939,925
Apr 19–251811041,623
Apr 26 – May 21851056,391
May 3–9147952,952
May 10–161231053,785
May 17–2397957,698
May 24–3079954,651
May 31 – Jun 661953,099
Jun 7–1354953,700
Jun 14–2048956,625
Jun 21–2750855,361
Jun 28 – Jul 430758,477
Jul 5–1134961,336
Jul 12–18411064,722
Jul 19–2543869,753
Jul 26 – Aug 142959,416
Aug 2–836859,712
Aug 9–1529855,994
Aug 16–2227954,328
Aug 23–2927951,772
Aug 30 – Sep 517757,167
Sep 6–1220559,075
Sep 13–1923854,543
Sep 20–2625745,860
Sep 27 – Oct 316743,180
Oct 4–1024737,841
Oct 11–1734830,824
Oct 18–2427821,156
Oct 25–3115619,021
Nov 1–712714,172
Nov 8–141112,621
Nov 15–21217,965
Nov 22–28328,136
Nov 29 – Dec 5116,083
Dec 6–12226,004
Dec 13–19435,423
Dec 20–26655,661
Dec 27 – Jan 2638,459

What these results show

These results show when people recorded a species, not when or where it occurs. Missing weeks and low counts do not mean absence or scarcity, and counts are not abundance. Contributed records reflect where, when and what people chose to observe.

Relatives

In the same genus

Other Spizella recorded in Ohio

Clay-colored SparrowSpizella pallidaField SparrowSpizella pusilla

Identification

How to identify it

Often confused with

  • House Sparrow Passer domesticusOften confused in Ohio: 21 identifications in Ohio named one where the other was meant
  • Clay-colored Sparrow Spizella pallida425 identifications worldwide named one where the other was meant
  • Song Sparrow Melospiza melodia393 identifications worldwide named one where the other was meant
  • White-crowned Sparrow Zonotrichia leucophrys385 identifications worldwide named one where the other was meant
  • White-throated Sparrow Zonotrichia albicollis229 identifications worldwide named one where the other was meant

From iNaturalist’s similar-species counts, refreshed monthly: confusions in Ohio first, then worldwide. Only species with an Ohio result are listed.

Land cover where it is recorded

Land coverIts recordsAll Ohio records
Developed74%49%
Forest14%31%
Farmland10%11%
Barren0.8%0.6%
Wetland0.8%5%
Open water0.4%3%
Grassland and shrub0.1%0.9%

From 838 records placed within 100 m, beside all Ohio records placed the same way. People record where they go, so this shows where records come from, not where the species lives. Land cover: USGS Annual NLCD, 2025 (opens in a new tab)

Finer identifications

Some Ohio records of this species were identified to a subspecies:

  • Spizella passerina passerinaEastern Chipping Sparrowsubspecies

Every one of these records counts toward the Chipping Sparrow's season above.

Why some records go further than species

Many species vary from place to place. Groups of a species that look or sound a little different, and live in different areas, can be named as subspecies. Observers and experts only identify a record that far when it shows enough detail to tell them apart. Records without that detail count at the species level.

Names: Catalogue of Life.

Sources

Where these results come from

  • Records from iNaturalist research-grade observations and expert-identified GBIF datasets, CC0, CC BY and CC BY-NC. Sources
  • Seasons use the published method and its evidence thresholds. Methods
  • See it on iNaturalist (opens in a new tab)OpenPhenology is independent and not affiliated with iNaturalist.

Records behind the Ohio result

1,809 records from 2 datasets.

To cite: the GBIF download doi:10.15468/dl.y2jkt8 (opens in a new tab).

A spreadsheet (CSV) with a link to each record, on iNaturalist or GBIF. Records whose location was hidden by the observer or the source are counted but not linked.