New World Sparrows in Illinois
Our list for Illinois has 10 new world sparrows recorded regularly there: 1 resident, 5 summer visitors, 3 winter visitors and 1 passage migrant
Most likely in October
GBIF · OctShare of all bird records in Illinois in October, 2019–2024. Each month links to that month’s page.
All 10, most common first
Song SparrowMelospiza melodiaResidentCommon12–17 cmRecorded all year
American Tree SparrowSpizelloides arboreaWinter visitorCommon14–17 cmRegularly Oct–Apr
White-crowned SparrowZonotrichia leucophrysWinter visitorCommon15–16 cmRegularly Sep–May
Chipping SparrowSpizella passerinaSummer visitorCommon12–15 cmRegularly Mar–Nov
Swamp SparrowMelospiza georgianaSummer visitorCommon12–15 cmRecorded all year
Fox SparrowPasserella iliacaWinter visitorCommon15–19 cmRegularly Oct–Apr
Lincoln's SparrowMelospiza lincolniiPassage migrantUncommon13–15 cmRegularly Apr–Oct
Vesper SparrowPooecetes gramineusSummer visitorUncommon13–17 cmRegularly Mar–Nov
Clay-colored SparrowSpizella pallidaSummer visitorUncommon13–15 cmRegularly Apr–Oct
Lark SparrowChondestes grammacusSummer visitorRare15–17 cmRegularly Apr–Aug
Smallest to largest
Length, cmData: EOD – eBird Observation Dataset (Cornell Lab of Ornithology), accessed via GBIF.org, CC BY 4.0. Records from 2019–2024, aggregated and filtered by Birdfact. How these lists are made