From Opus

Photo by Glen Tepke
Croatan National Forest, North Carolina, USA, 4 September 2007

Aimophila aestivalis

[edit] Identification

6" (15 cm)
Dull, streaked above, plain below, buff breast.

[edit] Distribution

South-eastern United States, breeding north to Illinois, Indiana, Ohio, and Pennsylvania, but very local.

Winters chiefly in southern Atlantic and Gulf Coast states.

[edit] Taxonomy

[edit] Subspecies^[1]

Polytypic. Consists of three subspecies:

• A. a. illinoensis:

• Indiana and Illinois to Texas and southern Louisiana; winters to the Gulf coast

• A. a. bachmani:

• Oak-pine woods of Mid-Atlantic states to northern Gulf states

• A. a. aestivalis :

• Oak-pine woods of eastern South Carolina and eastern Georgia to southern Florida

[edit] Habitat

Mature long-leaf pine forest, scattered shrubs; also fields and pastures.

[edit] Behaviour

Ground feeder; the diet includes crickets, beetles, grass and sedge seeds.

[edit] References

1. Clements, JF. 2008. The Clements Checklist of Birds of the World. 6th ed., with updates to December 2008. Ithaca: Cornell Univ. Press. ISBN 978-0801445019. Spreadsheet available at http://www.birds.cornell.edu/clementschecklist.
2. enature

• List of references

[edit] External Links