- Ammodramus henslowii
Identification
Location: Point Pelee, ON Canada
A small bird of some 4.5 inches, the Henslow's Sparrow has a large, conical bill, a large, flat head, short tail, olive face with two dark "whiskers", a buffy streaked breast and sides, a white belly and undertail coverts, a narrow, whitish crown stripe, rusty wing coverts, and dark and light streaking on back. The sexes are similar. Juvenile plumage (Summer, sometimes Autumnl) is similar to adult but has fine streaks confined to sides of breast.
Distribution
The estimated remaining global population of approximately 50,000 birds now breeds from western New York and Pennsylvania west to southern Wisconsin, eastern Iowa, and eastern Kansas and Oklahoma. An isolated breeding population occurs in eastern North Carolina. Throughout most of this breeding range the birds occur in small, often isolated patches. Henslow's Sparrows formerly bred east to New England and New Jersey where they are now extirpated. An isolated population that once bred in coastal Texas and was considered by some to represent a unique subspecies has since also been lost to development. Breeding Bird Survey data indicate a range-wide decline of more than 80% since 1966. Significant populations remain in tallgrass prairie remnants in eastern Kansas, eastern Oklahoma, and Missouri, in abandoned strip mines in western Pennsylvania; and smaller numbers in agricultural grasslands in the St. Lawrence Valley of New York. Important Bird Areas that support significant numbers of breeding Henslow's Sparrows include New York's Jefferson County Grasslands. In winter the species occurs in a belt extending from North Carolina west to eastern Texas. Important Bird Areas that support significant numbers of wintering Henslow's Sparrows include Florida's Apalachicola and Tates Hell Forests IBA. More IBAs for the species in other states are currently being identified.
Taxonomy
Habitat
Found in open fields with tall herbaceous vegetation.
