Chipping Sparrows in Pennsylvania

Chipping Sparrows are summer residents in Pennsylvania, arriving shortly before nesting begins in April and leaving after the young are independent. Through the season they feed on grasshoppers, leafhoppers and caterpillars.

Humid continental; cold, snowy winters in the north and mountains, milder in the southeast.

Across Pennsylvania, chipping sparrows typically nest from April–July. Nest site: loose cup lined with hair, 3–10 ft up in conifers or shrubs. Females lay 2–7 eggs, incubate for 10–15 days, and young leave the nest after 9–12 days.

Warm summers; bluebirds typically raise two broods.

• Chipping Sparrows don't use nest boxes. Keep dense native shrubs and trees such as paper birch, sugar maple for nest sites.
• Delay heavy pruning of shrubs until after July.

Of the regional native plants we track for Pennsylvania, these 8 provide food or cover chipping sparrows use:

Chippers feed on lawns and low platforms and nest in ornamental evergreens near houses.

• Best foods: Millet, Hulled sunflower chips.
• In Pennsylvania's summer: offer water and insect foods; natural food is abundant.

Full diet breakdown for chipping sparrows · Best feeder for chipping sparrows