Species: Ammodramus savannarum
Grasshopper Sparrow
Species
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Encyclopedia of Puget Sound
A chunky sparrow with a short narrow tail, flat head, buffy breast and sides (adults usually without obvious streaking), dark crown with a pale central stripe, narrow white eye ring, and (in most adults) a yellow-orange spot in front of the eye; juveniles have pale buff breast and sides, streaked with brown; average length 13 cm (NGS 1983).
Classification
Kingdom
Animalia
Phylum
Craniata
Class
Aves
Order
Passeriformes
Family
Emberizidae
Genus
Ammodramus
NatureServe
Classification
Other Global Common Names
Gorrión Chapulín - bruant sauterelle
Informal Taxonomy
Animals, Vertebrates - Birds - Perching Birds
Formal Taxonomy
Animalia - Craniata - Aves - Passeriformes - Emberizidae - Ammodramus - (sensu AOU 1983) possibly is not monophyletic; previous generic limits (AOU 1957) seem better to reflect phylogeny than current taxonomy.
Ecology and Life History
A chunky sparrow with a short narrow tail, flat head, buffy breast and sides (adults usually without obvious streaking), dark crown with a pale central stripe, narrow white eye ring, and (in most adults) a yellow-orange spot in front of the eye; juveniles have pale buff breast and sides, streaked with brown; average length 13 cm (NGS 1983).
Short General Description
A small songbird (sparrow).
Migration
true - true - true - Arrives in northern nesting areas March-June (Terres 1980). Northern breeders migrate as far south as Costa Rica, accidentally south to Panama and West Indies, none to South America (Hilty and Brown 1986, Stiles and Skutch 1989).
Non-migrant
true
Locally Migrant
true
Food Comments
Eats insects, other small invertebrates, grain, seeds (Terres 1980). Picks up food items from the ground surface.
Reproduction Comments
Arrive on the breeding grounds in mid-April and depart for the wintering grounds in mid-September (George 1952, Bent 1968, Smith 1968, Stewart 1975, Vickery 1996). In Saskatchewan and Manitoba, they arrive later (mid-May) and leave earlier (August) (Knapton 1979). Throughout most of their range, are able to produce two broods, one in late May and a second in early July (George 1952, Smith 1968, Vickery 1996). However, in the northern part of its range, one brood is probably most common; in Maine, no territories showed evidence of successfully fledging two broods and double-broodedness in Wisconsin is uncommon (Vickery et al. 1992, Wiens 1969). Frequently renest after nest failure, and if unsuccessful in previous attempts, may renest 3-4 times during the breeding season (Vickery 1996).
Ecology Comments
Average territory size is small (< 2 ha) (George 1952, Wiens 1969, Ducey and Miller 1980).
Length
13
Weight
17
Conservation Status
NatureServe Global Status Rank
G5
Global Status Last Reviewed
1996-12-04
Global Status Last Changed
1996-12-04
Distribution
Conservation Status Map
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Global Range
H - >2,500,000 square km (greater than 1,000,000 square miles) - H - BREEDING: eastern Washington, southern British Columbia, southern Alberta, southern Saskatchewan, southern Manitoba, southern Ontario, southwestern Quebec, northern Vermont, New Hampshire, and southern Maine south to southern California, central Nevada, northern Utah, eastern Colorado, eastern new Mexico, northern Texas, Arkansas, northern Mississippi, Alabama, Georgia, North Carolina, and southeastern Virginia; from southeastern Arizona, southwestern New Mexico, and southern Texas south to northern Sonora and northern Chihuahua; and in central Florida (Vickery 1996, AOU 1998). The main population is in the Great Plains, from North Dakota south to northern Texas, and east to Illinois (Johnson et al. 1998). NON-BREEDING: central California, southern Arizona, southern New Mexico, Texas, central Missouri, Tennessee, and North Carolina south through Mexico and Central America to northern Costa Rica and in the Bahamas and Cuba (Vickery 1996, AOU 1998). RESIDENT: Veracruz, Chiapas, Guatemala, Belize, Honduras, northwestern Costa Rica, and Panama; Jamaica, Hispaniola, and Puerto Rico; and in western Colombia, western Ecuador, and the Netherlands Antilles (Vickery 1996, AOU 1998).
Global Range Code
H
Global Range Description
>2,500,000 square km (greater than 1,000,000 square miles)

