Chipping Sparrows in Tennessee

Chipping Sparrows live in Tennessee all year. Moderate winters; high elevations in the Smokies hold northern species year-round. That makes the cold months the time your yard matters most to them: their winter diet shifts toward grass seeds.

Humid subtropical, from the Great Smoky Mountains to the Mississippi River floodplain.

Across Tennessee, 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.

Hot, humid summers in the valleys.

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

Of the regional native plants we track for Tennessee, 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 Tennessee's winter: Moderate winters; high elevations in the Smokies hold northern species year-round.

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