Chipping Sparrows are small and active sparrows with a nice light gray/dark white belly and flanks. They have a nice light brown back with striping on the mantle. They have black median coverts with a white wingbar on the edges. Their legs are pale and their tail is dark on the top and light/cream on the bottom. Their bill is pale-ish on the bottom and gray on the top, sometimes fading into each other. Their ariculars are darker than their Malar and supercilium/eyebrow. The start of their crown is gray with black on the sides but quickly changes to a bright rufous. They have a dark eye -stripe and have two slight, white eye-arks.

Most warblers are very active and produce height chipping noises which may lead to confusion, but note that all warblers have sharper bills than chippers. Warblers are also more melodious, having songs that differ greatly from the trills that chippers emit.

Field Sparrows are very similar to chippers, but produce a song unlike chippers. They also have a plain gray face with a small rusty patch on the auriculars and no black eye-stripe.They have a peach colored bill and instead of a red crown like a Chipper, they have an orange crown.