tree sparrow

noun

1

: a Eurasian sparrow (Passer montanus) that has a black spot on the ear coverts

2

: a North American sparrow (Spizelloides arborea) that has a single dark spot on the breast and breeds in Alaska and northern Canada and winters in the U.S.

Examples of tree sparrow in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Late American tree sparrows in the Concord area of the Great Meadows National Wildlife Refuge and at Mount Auburn Cemetery in Cambridge, where a yellow warbler and a wood thrush were also tallied. —Isabela Rocha, BostonGlobe.com, 29 Apr. 2023

And bees aren’t the only ones—bird species like tree sparrows, which nest on the ground and breed during the summer, are also at risk. —Erin Blakemore, Smithsonian, 15 June 2017

Word History

First Known Use

circa 1770, in the meaning defined at sense 1