Ammodramus savannarum
grasshopper sparrow

Most grasshopper sparrow populations are migratory, wintering in the southern United States along the coastal plains of Virginia south through Florida, and along the Gulf of Mexico. They also winter throughout most of Mexico and into western Central America. They breed throughout most of the United States east of the Rockies, portions of southern Canada, and isolated populations in the western United States. Breeding is from southern Maine and Quebec to the Carolinas, through central Georgia, Alabama, and Mississippi, northernmost Louisiana, and most of Texas north to throughout most of Montana. They breed as far north in the plains region as southernmost Alberta, Saskatchewan, and Manitoba and throughout the Great Lakes region to southern Ontario. Isolated western populations include an area from southern British Columbia through eastern Washington and Oregon, an area of southern Idaho into northernmost Utah and Nevada, and portions of California, including coastal areas and the Sacramento Valley and western slopes of the Sierra Nevada. There are several populations that are resident year round, including portions of Central America and central Mexico, large parts of Texas, southernmost Arizona, and the central Gulf states, including Florida. They are also found year-round and wintering in the Greater Antilles Islands. (Vickery, 1996)

Grasshopper sparrows prefer open grasslands with bare ground for foraging. In western, arid grasslands and prairies, grasshopper sparrows tend to be found in areas with shrub cover and more vegetation. In eastern, tallgrass prairies and moist grasslands, they tend to be found in areas of sparse vegetation. They are found in grasslands characterized by a wide variety of plants, including pine savannas, palmetto-sawgrass prairies, lowbush blueberry copses, and bunchgrass prairies. In the Appalachian Mountains these sparrows were once found up to 1550 m elevation on limestone outcroppings and "balds." Grasshopper sparrows seem to prefer areas with broad expanses of suitable habitat, not fragmented areas. Savannah sparrows (Passerculus sandwichensis) are most similar in habitat preferences to grasshopper sparrows. Other species with similar, but not completely overlapping, habitat preferences are Henslow’s sparrows, meadowlarks, bobolinks, and vesper sparrows. (Vickery, 1996)

Grasshopper sparrows are small sparrows, from 10.8 to 11.5 cm and from 14.5 to 20 g. They have robust bills, flesh colored legs, and streaked black and chestnut brown feathers on their back. Their breast and belly are unstreaked and creamy buff or white. They have a dark crown with a light colored crown stripe and yellowish plumage on the face surrounding the eyes which is disrupted by a dark line extending backwards from the eye. They have a relatively short tail and are considered stockier and bigger-headed than other, sympatric Ammodramus species. The intensity of plumage coloration varies geographically. Males and females are alike and juveniles have streaked breasts. (Vickery, 1996)

Grasshopper sparrows may be confused with Henslow's sparrows (Ammodramus henslowii), LeConte's sparrows (Ammodramus leconteii), Nelson's sharp-tailed sparrows (Ammodramus nelsoni), Baird's sparrows (Ammodramus bairdii), and savannah sparrows (Passerculus sandwichensis), although Baird's and savannah sparrows have streaked breasts. The best way to distinguish among Ammodramus sparrows is with their songs, as they are often difficult to observe. (Vickery, 1996)

Grasshopper sparrows have an estimated average lifespan of 2.9 years. One individual lived 6.5 years in the wild. Annual survival of adults was estimated at 60%. (Vickery, 1996)

Grasshopper sparrows are diurnal, spending much of their time foraging, except during breeding season when males spend large amounts of time singing and displaying to defend breeding territories. Males mainly use songs and aggressive displays to defend their breeding territory. They are tolerant of their female mate and any helpers at the nest. Outside of the breeding season, grasshopper sparrows are not territorial and are not found in flocks. They use cryptic foraging behaviors and short, direct flights and are solitary when not breeding. (Vickery, 1996)

Northern populations of grasshopper sparrows are completely migratory, but southern populations are only partially migratory or are resident or make only small, regional movements seasonally. Fidelity to breeding sites seems to vary regionally, from 0 to 70% in different areas. (Vickery, 1996)

Grasshopper sparrows run or walk on the ground while foraging, although they may also hop occasionally. Their flight characteristics vary seasonally. Outside of the breeding season, flight is usually short and direct, with birds usually flying into some kind of cover. In the breeding season, flights are short and fluttery, with some zig-zagging behavior before flying into cover. Males use a fluttering flight when going between song perches or singing. (Vickery, 1996)

Home Range

Nesting territories are defended during the breeding season. Territory boundaries are determined by the placement of song perches. Territory sizes are reported to be from 0.19 to 1.8 hectares.

Grasshopper sparrows get their common name for the buzzing, insect-like quality of their songs. They are one of the few sparrow species that sings 2 different songs; males sing one song for attracting a mate and another to defend a breeding territory. Their primary song is several staccato notes followed by a sustained, insect-like "zeeeeee" and seems to be mainly territorial. The secondary song is a squeaky set of notes varying in pitch and seems to be used primarily in mate attraction and maintaining the pair bond. Males and females also use a descending trill to communicate with their mate, announcing their presence at the nest. Males also sing a flight song. Songs are sometimes sung together, as in the primary song followed by the secondary song. Songs are generally restricted to the breeding season, with grasshopper sparrows being relatively quiet at other times of the year. They also have a set of calls that are used, most are staccato "chip" or "tsip" notes used to indicate alarm, beg for food, or maintain contact. (Vickery, 1996)

Grasshopper sparrows also use a variety of visual displays in communication. Males use a wing-flutter display when singing on a perch. They use this wing-flutter display in antagonistic interactions with other males as well. They will chase other males and maintain a posture with the head below the back to indicate aggression. Females rapidly quiver their wings towards the male as a signal of appeasement or readiness to copulate. (Vickery, 1996)

Grasshopper sparrows eat insects and seeds, with proportions varying seasonally. In the summer, they eat primarily insects, with about 69% of their diet being invertebrates and 39% seeds. In fall they eat mainly seeds, making up 71% of the diet, with 29% made up of invertebrates. Common seeds eaten are sedges (Cyperaceae) and panic grass (Panicum). Preferred insect prey are grasshoppers, mainly species in the genera Xiphidium, Scudderia, Hippiscus, and Melanopus, but especially the grasshopper species Cordillacris occipitalis. They will also eat other insects and spiders, as they are encountered. Grasshopper sparrows forage on the ground using vision to detect prey, so they require open areas and bare ground for good visibility. They capture grasshoppers by pinching them around the thorax, immobilizing them. They will remove hard, less digestible parts, such as legs, before feeding them to offspring. (Vickery, 1996)

Most predation is probably on eggs, nestlings, and fledglings. Grasshopper sparrow adults will perform broken-wing distraction displays near nests or fledglings to draw predators away. They also use alarm calls to signal the presence of a threat. They hide the location of nests by never flying directly to them. Instead they land a short distance away and run through the grass to the nest entrance. Similarly, when leaving, they run from the nest and then take flight at a distance from the nest. Grasshopper sparrows nests are widely dispersed and well-hidden, so predators mostly happen upon them by chance. Eggs and nestlings may be taken by snakes, including blue racers (Coluber constrictor), rat snakes (Elaphe species), common garter snakes (Thamnophis sirtalis), kingsnakes (Lampropeltis species) and pigmy rattlesnakes (Sistrurus miliarus). Mammalian nest predators include striped skunks (Mephitis mephitis), raccoons (Procyon lotor), weasels (Mustela species), ground squirrels (Spermophilus species), foxes (Vulpes species), domestic cats (Felis catus), feral pigs (Sus scrofa), and armadillos (Dasypus novemcinctus). Adults may be taken by various hawks and are regularly preyed on by loggerhead shrikes (Lanius ludovicianus). (Vickery, 1996)

Savannah sparrows may be dominant over grasshopper sparrows where they co-occur. Grasshopper sparrow nests are sometimes parasitized by brown-headed cowbirds (Molothrus ater). Habitat may influence exposure to nest parasitism, with grasshopper sparrow nests closer to forest edge being more vulnerable. Shiny cowbirds (Molothrus bonariensis) have colonized the Florida range of grasshopper sparrows recently and may parasitize nests. (Vickery, 1996)

Grasshopper sparrows are parasitized by nasal mites (Ptilonyssus sairae), Gulf Coast ticks (Amblyoma maculatum), and bird ticks (Haemaphysalis chordeilis). (Vickery, 1996)

There are no known adverse effects of grasshopper sparrows on humans.

Grasshopper sparrows are a unique element of the native North American grassland fauna.

Grasshopper sparrow populations have been experiencing declines of 3.9% on average throughout the 20th and into the 21st centuries. Declines are mainly the result of loss and fragmentation of grassland habitats, such as native prairies and pastures. Over 99% of native prairies have been converted to agriculture in Wisconsin, Illinois, and Minnesota. They are considered "least concern" by the IUCN because they are widespread and populations remain large, but they are rare in portions of their range. They are considered a species of special concern in Michigan, California, Washington, New York, Massachusetts, and Wyoming. They are considered threatened in New Jersey, threatened as A. s. floridanus in Florida, and endangered in Connecticut. Prescribed burning, grazing, and mowing have been used to improve habitats for grasshopper sparrows in some areas. (Vickery, 1996)

Most declines have been documented in the subspecies A. s. pratensis, distributed throughout much of the northeastern United States, and A. s. perpallidus, found in the Pacific states, with declines up to 69% since the 1960's. Ammodramus savannarum pratensis populations have been lost from much of their former New England range. The Florida subspecies, A. s. floridanus, now breeds in a much more restricted area than it did formerly. (Vickery, 1996)

Grasshopper sparrows are considered closely related to South American grassland sparrows (Myospiza humeralis) and yellow-browed sparrows (Myospiza aurifrons). (Vickery, 1996)