Two white lines frame the gray face of this North American sparrow, and a black triangular throat patch stands out. It searches for insects or seeds on the ground in dry scrub, with its diet changing by season.
Adults have two white facial stripes around a gray face and a black triangular throat patch. Juveniles lack the black patch and have fainter facial stripes.
It searches on the ground for seeds and insects and makes short flights between low shrubs. It eats mainly insects during breeding and mostly seeds outside the breeding season.
An extinction-risk assessment has not been added yet.