They mostly forage on the ground for seeds and other food items, as well as clambering on plants and trees, feeding on buds and small arthropods.

In the west of their range they breed mainly in coniferous forests, but in the east, they choose woodland, farmland, parks and gardens.

Adults in alternate (breeding) plumage have a reddish cap, a nearly white supercilium, and a black trans-ocular line (running through the eye).

Adults in basic (nonbreeding) plumage are less prominently marked, with a brownish cap, a dusky eyebrow, and a dark eye-line.

[8] It consists of a loose platform of grass and rootlets and open inner cup of plant fiber and animal hair.

[7] The chipping sparrow lays a clutch of two to seven pale blue to white eggs with black, brown, or purple markings.