General

Henslow's Sparrow: Small sparrow with black-streaked brown upperparts. Breast, sides, and flanks are dark-streaked pale buff; throat and belly are white. Head is olive-brown. Sexes are similar. Juvenile is paler, washed buff-brown and has fewer streaks on underparts.

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.

Breeding and 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.

Foraging and Feeding

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

Readily Eats

Safflower, Apple Slices, Suet, Millet, Peanut Kernels, Fruit

Vocalization

Henslow's Sparrow: Song is "flee-LICK", like an explosive bird hiccup, with emphasis on the second note. Call is a thin, high "tsip."

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.