Grasshopper sparrow
Ammodramus savannarum
Identification Tips:
- Large, conical bill
- Large, flat head
- Short tail
- Buffy face and breast
- White belly and undertail coverts
- Buffy supercilium
- Narrow, whitish crown stripe
- Gray and brown streaks on nape, wing coverts and rump
- Black and white streaking on back
- Sexes similar
- Juvenile plumage (Summer, sometimes Fall) similar to adult but has fine
streaks on breast
- Some variation in plumage across range with Florida birds being somewhat
darker and Arizona birds having indistinct brownish streaks on sides of breast
- Found in open fields
- Forages on the ground
Similar species:
The Baird's Sparrow is similar in shape to the Grasshopper Sparrow but has
streaks across the breast. Juvenile Grasshopper Sparrows have streaked
breasts and can be separated by their whitish, not yellow, crown stripe and
lack of dark streaks on the side of the throat. Henslow's Sparrow has olive
face and rusty wings. LeConte's Sparrow has different face pattern. Other
sparrows likely to be found in field habitats have longer tails and smaller
heads as well as different markings (Song, Vesper, Savannah, Field, for
example).