American Tree Sparrow    Spizella arborea

Conservation Status

General Status in Canada : Secure

COSEWIC Status : Not assessed

Again, because of the remoteness of its breeding habitat and its expansive winter distribution, the American Tree Sparrow is not considered to be a species of concern. On its breeding grounds, there are currently very few human threats or perceived impacts, making it relatively secure. Overall, forestry probably isn’t going to be an issue for this species because of low economic value of the forest it inhabits during the breeding season. However, increased oil and gas exploration, and mining industries could pose problems for this species in the future through permanent habitat removal, habitat alteration, and the unknown impacts of localized environmental pollution.

Reference(s)

Naugler, C. T. 1993. American Tree Sparrow (Spizella arborea), The Birds of North America Online, . A. Poole, Ed. Ithaca: Cornell Laboratory of Ornithology; Retrieved from The Birds of North America Online database: http://bna.birds.cornell.edu/bna/species/037

Koch, I., J. V. Mace, and K. J. Reimer. 2005. Arsenic speciation in terrestrial birds from Yellowknife, Northwest Territories, Canada: The unexpected finding of Arsenobetaine, Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry, 24(6):1468-1474.

Dauwe, T., L. Bervoets, R. Blust, R. Pinxten, and M. Eens. 2000. Can excrement and feathers of nestling songbirds be used as biomonitors for heavy metal pollution?, Archives of Environmental Contamination and Toxicology, 39:541-546.

Ashenhurst, A. R., and S. J. Hannon. 2008. Effects of seismic lines on the abundance of breeding birds in Kendall Island Bird Sanctuary, Northwest Territories, Canada, Arctic, 61(2):190-198.