Nature Photos of the Week

January 17, 2008

Not Often Seen Sparrows!

 

LeConte's Sparrow, Ammodramus leconteii, Arkansas © 2007 Jim Brown

Adults have streaked dark and light brown upperparts with a light brown breast and white belly with fine streaks on the side. They have a large flat head with a light crown stripe on a dark crown, an orange face with a grey cheek patch. The large bill is dark and they have a short tail. Their breeding habitat is moist grassland across central Canada to Quebec and central northern United States. The nest is an open cup attached to dead grass, sometimes on the ground. These birds migrate to the southeastern United States. They forage on the ground usually in dense grass, mainly eating insects and seeds. The male sings from a concealed location. The song is a sharp tik followed by a hiss similar to the song of Nelson's Sharp-tailed Sparrow. John James Audubon named this bird after a friend, Doctor LeConte. It is generally believed that he meant John Lawrence LeConte, although some feel that he was referring to another John LeConte, also a doctor, and John Lawrence's cousin.

 

Harris's Sparrow, Zonotrichia querula, Connecticut © 2007 AJ Hand

Harris's Sparrow breeding habitat is the north part of central Canada (primarily the Northwest Territories, ranging a bit into northern Manitoba). In fact, this bird is Canada's only endemic breeder. In the winter they migrate to the Great Plains states of the United States, from lower South Dakota to upper Texas. The common name of this species commemorates the American amateur ornithologist Edward Harris (1799–1863).

 

Henslow's Sparrow, Ammodramus henslowii, Arkansas © 2008 Andrew Griswold

Adult Henslow's Sparrows have streaked brown upperparts with a light brown breast with streaks, a white belly and a white throat. They have a pale stripe on the crown with a dark stripe on each side, an olive face and neck, rust-coloured wings and a short dark forked tail. Their breeding habitat is shrubby fields, often wet, in southern Canada and the northeastern United States. The nest is a well-concealed open cup on or close to the ground in grassy location; these birds often nest in small colonies. They migrate to wet grasslans and open pine woods in the southeastern United States.

These birds forage on the ground, mainly eating insects and seeds. Their song is a quick se-lick.

The range and numbers of this bird are decreasing, probably due to habitat loss.