Henslow's Sparrow

Ammodramus henslowiiOrder: PASSERIFORMES Family: Sparrows (Emberizidae)

Codes: Common Name: HESP Scientific Name: AMMHEN ITIS Taxonomic No.: 179340

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Overview

Henslow's Sparrow: Small sparrow, black-streaked brown upperparts. Breast, sides, and flanks are dark-streaked pale buff; throat and belly are white. Head is olive-brown with dark lines. Weak fluttering flight with tail jerking, alternates rapid wing beats with wings pulled to sides.

Range and Habitat

Henslow's Sparrow: Breeds locally from Minnesota, southern Ontario, and central New York (rarely New England) south to Kansas, Illinois, and North Carolina. Spends winters in Gulf coast states and along Atlantic coast to South Carolina. Inhabits moist or dry grasslands with scattered weeds and small shrubs.

Topo Map: Perching-like Body

Listen to Call

Voice Text

"flee-LICK", "tsip"

Interesting Facts

Henslow's Sparrow was named by John James Audubon in honor of John Stevens Henslow, a botanist, minister, good friend of Audubon, and teacher of Charles Darwin.

Its population numbers have declined steadily over the past few decades, largely because of habitat loss.

An isolated population that once bred in coastal Texas and was considered by some to represent a unique subspecies has been lost to development.

A group of sparrows has many collective nouns, including a "crew", "flutter", "meinie", "quarrel", and "ubiquity" of sparrows.

Bird Term Glossary

Author

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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.

Henslow's Sparrow

● Song: "flee-LICK", "tsip"

● Foraging & Feeding: Henslow's Sparrow: Eats insects, caterpillars, and seeds; forages on the ground around vegetation.

● Breeding & nesting: Henslow's Sparrow: Three to five creamy white to pale green eggs marked with red brown are laid in a nest woven from grass and forbs, usually built on the ground in a slight hollow or sheltered by a grassy clump or weeds. Eggs are incubated for 11 days by the female.

● Similar species: Henslow's Sparrow: Grasshopper Sparrow has a brown to buff head, pale central crown stripe, dark stripe behind the eye, and buff wash on unstreaked, white underparts.

Flight Pattern

Alternates several rapid wing beats with wings pulled to sides., Weak fluttering flight with jerking of tail, low over vegetation.

Henslow's Sparrow Breeding Male Body Illustration

● Range & Habitat: Henslow's Sparrow: Breeds locally from Minnesota, southern Ontario, and central New York (rarely New England) south to Kansas, Illinois, and North Carolina. Spends winters in Gulf coast states and along Atlantic coast to South Carolina. Inhabits moist or dry grasslands with scattered weeds and small shrubs.

^BreedingMonogamous, Large colonies

^PopulationYes but uncommon

^MigrationMigratory

^Weight0.5 Ounces

Perching-like Body

Upperparts

Back, rump, hindneck, wings, and crown.

Belly

The ventral part of the bird, or the area between the flanks on each side and the crissum and breast. Flight muscles are located between the belly and the breast.

Breast

The upper front part of a bird.

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