Nelson's Sharp-tailed Sparrow

Nelson's Sharp-tailed Sparrow adult; Tuckerton, NJ.

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1. Description
2. Sound
3. Conservation Status
4. Other Names
5. Cool Facts
6. Full detailed species account

A secretive sparrow with a brightly-colored face, the Nelson's Sharp-tailed Sparrow breeds along the edges of freshwater marshes and in wet meadows of interior North America, and in salt marshes along the northern Atlantic Coast.

Description

• Small, stocky songbird.
• Orange-yellow face.
• Gray ear patch.
• Smudgy streaks on breast and flanks.
• Short, rounded tail with pointed tail feathers.

• Size: 11-13 cm (4-5 in)
• Wingspan: 20 cm (8 in)
• Weight: 19-21 g (0.67-0.74 ounces)

Sex Differences

Sexes look alike.

Sound

Song a steady hissing buzz.

Conservation Status

Common.

Other Names

Bruant de Nelson (French)
Sharp-tailed Sparrow (in part) (English)

Cool Facts

• The Nelson's Sharp-tailed Sparrow formerly was considered the same species as the Saltmarsh Sharp-tailed Sparrow, collectively known as the Sharp-tailed Sparrow. The two forms have separate breeding ranges that barely overlap in Maine. They differ in genetics, songs, and subtle plumage characters.

Sources used to construct this page:

Greenlaw, J. S. and J. D. Rising. 1994. Sharp-tailed Sparrow (Ammodramus caudacutus ). In The Birds of North America, No. 112 (A. Poole and F. Gill, Eds.). Philadelphia: The Academy of Natural Sciences; Washington, D.C.: The American Ornithologists? Union.