Seaside sparrow

Seaside sparrow
Cape Sable seaside sparrow in Everglades National Park
Scientific classification
Kingdom:Animalia
Phylum:Chordata
Class:Aves
Order:Passeriformes
Family:Passerellidae
Genus:Ammodramus
Species: A. maritima
Binomial name
Ammodramus maritima
(Wilson, 1811)
Subspecies

Ammodramus maritimus mirabilis
Ammodramus maritimus nigrescens †
Ammodramus maritimus peninsulae

The seaside sparrow (Ammodramus maritima) is a small American sparrow.

Adults have brownish upperparts with gray on the crown and nape, and a grayish-buff-colored breast with dark streaks; they have a dark face with gray cheeks, a white throat, and a short, pointed tail. Birds show a small yellow streak just above the eye.

Their breeding habitat is salt marshes on the Atlantic and Gulf coasts of the United States from southern New Hampshire to southern Texas. The nest is an open cup usually built in the salt marsh on tidal reeds and spartina grasses. Females lay two to five eggs.

Northern birds most often migrate further south along the eastern coast of the United States. They forage on the ground or in marsh vegetation, sometimes probing in mud. They mainly eat insects, marine invertebrates and seeds. Their feeding areas are often some distance away from the areas they choose to nest.

One of the numerous subspecies of this bird, the dusky seaside sparrow (A. m. nigrescens), has recently become extinct, and the Cape Sable subspecies, A. m. mirabilis, is endangered. Occurring in a restricted range but of uncertain validity is Scott's seaside sparrow, (A. m. peninsulae). Those were formerly considered a separate species.

The song is a raspy buzz that closely resembles a distant red-winged blackbird.

References

  1. ↑ BirdLife International (2012). "Ammodramus maritimus". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Version 2013.2. International Union for Conservation of Nature. Retrieved 26 November 2013.
  • "Seaside sparrow media". Internet Bird Collection.
  • Stamps (for the United States) with a range map at bird-stamps.org
  • Seaside sparrow photo gallery at VIREO (Drexel University)
  • Dusky seaside sparrow bird sound at the Florida Museum of Natural History
  • Cape Sable seaside sparrow bird sound at the Florida Museum of Natural History
  • "Ecological and Genetic Diversity in the Seaside Sparrow" (pdf, 0.95 Mb)
  • Interactive range map of Ammodramus maritimus at IUCN Red List maps


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