Chipping Sparrow (Spizella passerina)
This slim bird is only about 5 inches long. You can spot it by a
chestnut brown crown, black line through the eye, and black bill.
Chippies nest throughout the United States; they even breed as far
south as Nicaragua and as far north as southern Canada, and winter
in the southern United States and Mexico.
Chipping sparrows are domestic birds that show little fear of humans.
They often build nests in gardens, cemeteries or golf courses, where
mowed lawns provide feeding areas. Among the most insectivorous
of all sparrows, their diet consists mainly of insects, supplemented by
weed seeds.
Adjectives are dangerous in describing wildlife, but chippies are just
plain lovable.