- Ammodramus savannarum
Identification
Juvenile which is shown by the speckles in the high breast area
Photo © by Josef
Rapid City, South Dakota, USA, July 2010
Photo © by Josef
Rapid City, South Dakota, USA, July 2010
12–12·5 cm (4¾-5 in)
- Flat head (straight line from the bill back to the crown)
- White eye ring
- Orange spot in front of the eyes
- Unstreaked breast with a little buffy color
- Suggestion of a light crown stripe
- Short tail
- Large bill
Distribution
Canada, United States, Mexico south to Central America and northern South America (Colombia and Ecuador).
Taxonomy
Subspecies
Polytypic. Consists of eleven subspecies[1].
- A. s. perpallidus: South-eastern British Columbia to western Ontario and south-western US; winters to El Salvador
- A. s. ammolegus: Southern Arizona and north-western Mexico (northern Sonora); winters to Guatemala
- A. s. pratensis: South-eastern Canada and eastern US; winters to Guatemala and Cuba
- A. s. floridanus: Central peninsular Florida
- A. s. bimaculatus: Southern Mexico (Veracruz) to Nicaragua, north-western Costa Rica and western Panama
- A. s. cracens: Petén and eastern Guatemala to Belize, eastern Honduras and north-eastern Nicaragua
- A. s. caucae: Colombia (upper Cauca Valley) and adjacent northern Ecuador
- A. s. savannarum: Jamaica
- A. s. intricatus: Hispaniola
- A. s. borinquensis: Puerto Rico
- A. s. caribaeus: Netherlands Antilles (Bonaire and Curaçao)
Three other subspecies are not recognised by most authorities: beatriceae, passerinus and australis the latter two generally being considered invalid.[2]
Habitat
Early successional fields and prairies and forest edges.
Behaviour
Diet
There diet consists of insects and seeds.
Vocalisation
Song: such as it is, has a few high introductory chips, followed by a distinctive buzz.
References
- Clements, J. F., T. S. Schulenberg, M. J. Iliff, D. Roberson, T. A. Fredericks, B. L. Sullivan, and C. L. Wood. 2018. The eBird/Clements checklist of birds of the world: v2018. Downloaded from http://www.birds.cornell.edu/clementschecklist/download/
- Avibase
- BF Member observations
- Handbook of the Birds of the World Alive (retrieved May 2014)
Recommended Citation
- BirdForum Opus contributors. (2024) Grasshopper Sparrow. In: BirdForum, the forum for wild birds and birding. Retrieved 18 April 2024 from https://www.birdforum.net/opus/Grasshopper_Sparrow
External Links
GSearch checked for 2020 platform.
