Grasshopper Sparrow

Ammodramus savannarumOrder: PASSERIFORMES Family: Sparrows (Emberizidae)

Codes: Common Name: GRSP Scientific Name: AMMSAV ITIS Taxonomic No.: 179333

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Overview

Grasshopper Sparrow: Medium sparrow with brown-streaked upperparts and white underparts. Face, flanks, and breast are plain buff-brown. Head is flat with central white stripe though dark crown. Upper mandible is gray, while lower mandible is yellow. Pink legs and feet. Named for its insectlike song.

Range and Habitat

Grasshopper Sparrow: Breeds from Alaska, Manitoba to New Hampshire; winters in central and southern half of U.S. Inhabits prairie grasslands, pastures, old weedy fields, palmetto scrub, grain fields, and hayfields.

Topo Map: Perching-like Body

Listen to Call

Similar Sounding

Voice Text

"kip-kip-kip zeee"

Interesting Facts

Grasshopper Sparrow parents prepare grasshoppers to feed to the nestlings by shaking off each pair of legs in turn.

Twelve subspecies are recognized. Four breed in North America, four are resident in Mexico, Central America, Colombia, and Ecuador, and four are resident in the Caribbean.

A secretive bird, it will fly a short distance when flushed, and then drop back into the grass out of sight. They usually stay out of sight unless they are singing, when they will perch on a weed stalk, shrub, or fence wire and belt out their buzzy song.

A group of Grasshopper Sparrows are collectively known as a "plague" of sparrows.

Bird Term Glossary

Author

Gary Owen Dick

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Bird Call Credits: The Macaulay Library of Natural Sounds at the Cornell Lab of Ornithology. Martyn Stewart, http://www.naturesound.org, Redmond, Washington USA. The reuse or copying of bird calls in this database is strictly forbidden.

Grasshopper Sparrow

● Song: "kip-kip-kip zeee"

● Foraging & Feeding: Grasshopper Sparrow: Feeds mostly on insects, including grasshoppers(staple), beetles, caterpillars, and crickets; also eats spiders, earthworms, snails, and seeds; forages on the ground.

● Breeding & nesting: Grasshopper Sparrow: Three to six creamy white eggs with spots and flecks of red brown are laid in a cup of grass lined with rootlets and hair, and built near or on the ground. Incubation ranges from 11 to 12 days and is carried out by the female.

● Similar species: Grasshopper Sparrow: Baird's Sparrow has streaks across breast. Henslow's Sparrow has olive face and rust-brown wings. Le Conte's Sparrow has smaller bill and streaked flanks.

Flight Pattern

Fluttering wing beats., Rapid undulating flight.

● Range & Habitat: Grasshopper Sparrow: Breeds from Alaska, Manitoba to New Hampshire; winters in central and southern half of U.S. Inhabits prairie grasslands, pastures, old weedy fields, palmetto scrub, grain fields, and hayfields.

^BreedingMonogamous, Loose colonies

^Population

^MigrationMigratory

^Weight0.8 Ounces

Perching-like Body

Underparts

Belly, undertail coverts, chest, flanks, and foreneck.

Upperparts

Back, rump, hindneck, wings, and crown.

Breast

The upper front part of a bird.

Crown

The crown is the top part of the birds head.

Face

The front part of the head consisting of the bill, eyes, cheeks and chin.

Lower mandible

The lower part of the bill.

Upper mandible

The upper part of the bill.

4 and 6 letter alpha codes

The four letter common name alpha code is is derived from the first two letters of the common first name and the first two letters of common last name. The six letter species name alpha code is derived from the first three letters of the scientific name (genus) and the first three letters of the scientific name (species). See (1) below for the rules used to create the codes..

Four-letter (for English common names) and six-letter (for scientific names) species alpha codes were developed by Pyle and DeSante (2003, North American Bird-Bander 28:64-79) to reflect A.O.U. taxonomy and nomenclature (A.O.U. 1998) as modified by Supplements 42 (Auk 117:847-858, 2000) and 43 (Auk 119:897-906, 2002). The list has been updated by Pyle and DeSante to reflect changes reported by the A.O.U from 2003 through 2006.

Field Guide to Birds of North America