Grasshopper Sparrow

Grasshopper Sparrow

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

A furtive bird of open grasslands, the Grasshopper Sparrow takes its name not only from its diet, but also from its insect-like song. It is found during the breeding season across much of the eastern United States and Great Plains, nesting and feeding mostly on the ground.

Description

• Small songbird.
• Mostly brownish, with an unmarked buffy breast.
• Dark crown with a pale middle stripe.
• Large head.
• Short tail.

• Size: 11-12 cm (4-5 in)
• Weight: 14-20 g (0.49-0.71 ounces)

Sex Differences

Sexes look alike.

Sound

Song is two staccato notes followed by a long, insect-like buzz. Second song, sometimes delivered in flight, is a long series of short buzzy notes. Call is a staccato double or triple ticking note.

Conservation Status

Declining throughout range from habitat loss, fragmentation, and degradation.

Other Names

Bruant sauterelle (French)
Gorrion chapulin, Gorrion chicharra (Spanish)

Cool Facts

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

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

Sources used to construct this page:

Vickery, P. D. 1996. Grasshopper Sparrow (Ammodramus savannarum). In The Birds of North America, No. 239 (A. Poole and F. Gill, eds.). The Academy of Natural Sciences, Philadelphia, PA, and the American Ornithologists Union, Washington, D.C.