Passerella schistacea is also described as the Slate-colored group within Fox Sparrow. It breeds in dense riparian scrub in the western interior and moves toward the Pacific Coast in winter.
The Slate-colored group has a grey head and back, reddish-brown wings and tail, and black spots on the white underparts.
It scratches through leaf litter with both feet to find insects and seeds. It breeds in dense riparian thickets with alder and willow and winters in chaparral from California to New Mexico.
An extinction-risk assessment has not been added yet.