Seaside sparrow Ammodramus maritimus

Identification Tips:

• Length: 5.5 inches
• Large, conical bill
• Large, flat head
• Short tail
• Yellow lores
• White throat with dark streak
• Dark gray plumage with indistinct streaks on breast
• Sexes similar
• Juvenile plumage (Summer) similar to adult but has buffier underparts with less streaking and browner, not gray, upperparts
• Found in coastal marshes
• Some races are blacker and streakier underneath

Similar species:

Adults are fairly distinctive with gray plumage and yellow lores. Juveniles are similar to juvenile sharp-tailed sparrows but have larger bills and a broken supercilium.

Length and wingspan from: Robbins, C.S., Bruun, B., Zim, H.S., (1966). Birds of North America. New York: Western Publishing Company, Inc.