Latest Grasshopper Sparrow Stories
The wide-open spaces of the Flint Hills may no longer provide a secure home on the range for several familiar grassland birds, according to research by a Kansas State University ecologist and her colleagues.The researchers found that three bird species common to the Flint Hills region of Kansas and Oklahoma are experiencing serious population decline in the face of extensive land-management practices like annual burning and widespread grazingThe Flint Hills contain the largest remaining...
By Jim Minick jminick@radford.edu It's a land of rare sparrows, bobwhite quail and deer too many to count. It's a bend in the New River where German brothers first farmed corn and cattle in the 1740s. And now this place of thousands of acres is a land encircled by miles and miles of fence. I've driven by the Radford Army Ammunition Plant for more than 20 years, always glimpsing in, always wondering what the land looks like, what wild creatures still live there and how the river shapes the...
Latest Grasshopper Sparrow Reference Libraries
The Sierra Madre Sparrow, Xenospiza baileyi, is a highly endangered, mysterious American sparrow endemic to volcanic bunchgrass areas near Mexico City. It faces imminent extinction due to habitat loss. The Sierra Madre Sparrow is the sole species in the genus Xenospiza. This genus is closely related to the genus Ammodramus. The difference mainly being a longer, less pointed tail, and restriction to high altitude alpine grassland habitats.
The Grasshopper Sparrow (Ammodramus savannarum) is one of the smaller sparrows. Adults have upperparts streaked with brown, grey, black and white. Additionally they have a light brown breast, white belly and a short brown tail. Their face is light brown with an eye ring and a dark brown crown with a central narrow light stripe. This is the standard description. However, there are regional variations in the appearance of this bird. They breed in open fields and prairies across southern...
The Baird's Sparrow (Ammodramus bairdii) is a small sparrow with a large bill, a large flat head and a short forked tail. The upperparts are brown and the underparts white, with streaking on the back, breast, and flanks. The face, nape, and crown stripe are yellowish in color. Their chosen breeding habitat is in the tall grass prairie regions in southern central Canada as well as the northern mid-western United States. The nest is an open cup in a well-hidden grassy location on the ground....
The Le Conte's Sparrow (Ammodramus leconteii) is a small sparrow with streaked dark and light brown upperparts and a light brown breast. Their belly is white and they have fine streaks on their sides. They have a large flat head with a light crown stripe on a dark crown, an orange face with a grey cheek patch. Their large bill is dark and their tail short. Their breeding habitat is moist grassland across central Canada to Quebec and central northern United States. The nest is an open cup...
