From Opus

Ammodramus savannarum

Photo by raymondjbarlow
Location: Kirkfield, Ontario, Canada, June 2007

[edit] Identification

• Flat head (straight line from the bill back to the crown)
• White eye ring
• Orange spot in front of the eyes
• Unstreaked breast with a little buffy color
• Suggestion of a light crown stripe

[edit] Distribution

Canada, United States, Mexico south to Central America and northern South America (Colombia and Ecuador).

[edit] Taxonomy

[edit] Subspecies^[1]

Polytypic. Consists of eleven subspecies.

• A. s. perpallidus:

• South-eastern British Columbia to western Ontario and south-western US; winters to El Salvador

• A. s. ammolegus:

• Southern Arizona and north-western Mexico (northern Sonora); winters to Guatemala

• A. s. pratensis Grasshopper Sparrow (Eastern) SE Canada and e US; > to Guatemala and Cuba
• A. s. floridanus:

• Central peninsular Florida

• A. s. bimaculatus:

• Southern Mexico (Veracruz) to Nicaragua, north-western Costa Rica and western Panama

• A. s. cracens:

• Petén and eastern Guatemala to Belize, eastern Honduras and north-eastern Nicaragua

• A. s. caucae:

• Colombia (upper Cauca Valley) and adjacent northern Ecuador

• A. s. savannarum:

• Jamaica

• A. s. intricatus:

• Hispaniola

• A. s. borinquensis:

• Puerto Rico

• A. s. caribaeus:

• Netherlands Antilles (Bonaire and Curaçao)

Three other subspecies are not recognised by most authorities: beatriceae, passerinus and australis the latter two generally being considered invalid.^[2]

[edit] Habitat

Early successional fields and prairies and forest edges.

[edit] Behaviour

[edit] Vocalisation

Song: such as it is, has a few high introductory chips, followed by a distinctive buzz.

[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. Avibase
3. BF Member observations

• List of references

[edit] External Links