The Clay-colored Sparrow (Spizella pallida) is a breeding bird of brushy patches of habitat in the northern great plains of the north-central United States and Canada. The species winters in far south and west Texas and across much of Mexico. The top 7 images here are of a territorial Clay-colored Sparrow at Bowdoin N.W.R., Phillips Co., Montana, in June, 2007. The shots were taken with a Canon EOS 1D Mark III and EF 600mm F/4 L IS lens and 2X extender.

The Clay-colored Sparrow in the next two shots was a spring migrant photographed as it was in Concan, Uvalde Co., Texas, with the same gear descriobed above.