Breeds in Great Basin of western USA from eastern Washington and southern Wyoming south to central-eastern California, south-eastern Nevada, north-eastern Arizona and northern New Mexico. Non-breeding central California east to south-western Utah and central New Mexico, south to northern Mexico (northern Baja California, northern Sonora and northern Chihuahua) and western Texas.
Population
Estimated population is 4,300,000 (2010).
Bell's Sparrow (Artemisiospiza belli) [XC125549]
by Richard E. Webster from Butterbredt Canyon, Kern County, California, United States (song)
Bell's Sparrow (Artemisiospiza belli) [XC125556]
by Richard E. Webster from Butterbredt Canyon, Kern County, California, United States (song)
Subspecies
Considered conspecific with Amphispiza nevadensis, but recent molecular work indicates that the two are, instead, members of a well-resolved clade of "grassland" sparrows that includes genera Pooecetes, Oriturus, Passerculus, Ammodramus (in part), Melospiza and Xenospiza. Subspecies canescens, closely similar in appearance to A. nevadensis and possibly hybridizing with it where ranges meet, has been thought perhaps to represent a separate species. Further research is required. Subspecies cinerea intergrades with nominate in north-central Baja California. Subspecies clementeae should perhaps be subsumed into nominate.
The following 5 subspecies are recognised:
belli (Cassin, 1850) - California on western slopes of central Sierra Nevada (south to Mariposa County) and coastal ranges (from Trinity County and Shasta County) south to extreme north-western Mexico (north-western Baja California south to c. 29º north).
clementeae (Ridgway, 1898) - San Clemente I, off south-western California.
cinerea (Townsend, CH, 1890) - Central Baja California (south to 26º north).
canescens (Grinnell, 1905) - Breeds in interior south-central California (southern San Joaquin Valley, Inyo region, and southern and western edges of Mojave Desert) and adjacent western Nevada. Non-breeding also west to south-western California, east to southern Nevada and western Arizona, and south to north-eastern Baja California.
nevadensis (Cassin, 1850) - Breeds in Great Basin of western USA from eastern Washington and southern Wyoming south to central-eastern California, south-eastern Nevada, north-eastern Arizona and northern New Mexico. Non-breeding central California east to south-western Utah and central New Mexico, south to northern Mexico (northern Baja California, northern Sonora and northern Chihuahua) and western Texas. Considered by some authors to be a distinct species, Sagebrush Sparrow (Artemisiospiza nevadensis).
BirdLife International Species Factsheet