 It breeds in relatively short willow habitats in montane regions from the interior of northwest British Columbia to Nevada and eastern California (Rising & Beadle 1996).It is a tiny-billed bird with a gray head and mantle, brown wings, brown breast streaks, and a russet tail.Like all "fox sparrow" subspecies, it is differentiated into some morphologically recognizable allopatric populations, which are still genetically indistinguishable due to their recent evolution (Zink 1994).