Fox Sparrow
Passerella
iliaca
"Slate-colored" form (subspecies P.i. olivacea) fairly common but local on both sides of Cascade crest, favoring brushy forest edge at elevations above 2,500 feet. Adaptable, nesting from deerbrush-covered openings in ponderosa pine zone up to subalpine parkland. Somewhat nomadic, occupying shrubby regenerating clearcuts until new tree growth becomes too crowded for their liking. Distribution undoubtedly denser than our map shows due to access difficulties for survey teams at remote sites. Record from upper Colockum Creek drainage on 6 June 2000, high on Naneum Ridge, extends range eastward well beyond that predicted by Washington Gap report (Smith et al. 1997).
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