Savannah Sparrow
Although they are grassland-loving birds, Savannah Sparrows were named not for a grassy habitat with scattered trees, but for Savannah, Georgia, where Alexander Wilson took an early specimen.

The Savannah Sparrow is a variable species with a very broad range. During the breeding season it is found in open habitats across Alaska and Canada south to the middle United States and in the west south to Mexico. In the tundra at the northern extent of the range, Savannah Sparrows are associated with dwarf willows and birches, while farther south they may be found in wet meadows, hay fields and pastures. Coastal populations live in salt marshes or in dune grasses. Savannah Sparrows feed mainly on seeds found on the ground. During the breeding season they consume many insects, especially beetles. Savannah Sparrows in coastal marshes also eat small mollusks and crustaceans.

Three geographically restricted forms of Savannah Sparrows are distinguishable from the widespread typical form. The very pale "Ipswich Sparrow" was initially described as a separate species. This form breeds only in dune grasses on Sable Island (located about 100 miles offshore from Nova Scotia) and very rarely on the adjacent Nova Scotia coast. Approximately 2,000 individuals nest on Sable Island, which is about 24 miles long and one mile wide. During the winter "Ipswich Sparrows" inhabit a narrow strip of suitable dune habitat stretching for one thousand miles south along the Atlantic coast.

"Belding's" Savannah Sparrow was also once considered a separate species. It occurs in salt marshes in southern California and northwestern Baja California, and is distinguished by its small size and very heavy blackish brown streaking. Another coastal salt marsh form is the "Large-billed" Savannah Sparrow of Baja California and northwestern Mexico. This sparrow is pale, only weakly streaked on the back and crown, with pale streaking below, and has a distinctly larger bill than the other forms. In the United States, "Large-billed" Savannah Sparrows may be found near California's Salton Sea following the breeding season. Recent mitochondrial DNA studies indicate that this form may deserve full species rank.

Pacific Coast and Mexican races are sedentary, but most Savannah Sparrows are migratory, vacating the whole of Canada and Alaska to pass the winter from the southern United States through the West Indies and Mexico, and as far south as northern Central America. Approximately 90 to 95 percent of returning birds breed in the locality where they were raised.
Savannah Sparrow Range Map

Males sing from the ground or a low perch, such as a shrub or fence post. The song is soft and insect-like, consisting of a short series of chips followed by a long buzzy trill and then a shorter trill lower in pitch. From a distance, the beginning notes and the ending trill might go undetected by a human observer. Males perform short display flights on rapidly vibrating wings, with head and tail held high and legs dangling. The female constructs a grassy nest in a scratched-out depression on the ground. The nest is usually concealed by overarching clumps of grass or shrubbery and is accessed from the side. The young fledge about two weeks after hatching.

Description: Savannah Sparrows are highly variable, but generally have yellow lores, and sometimes yellow through the supercilium. Most have a whitish median crown stripe (except "Large-billed" and "Belding's" Savannah Sparrows), dark eyeline and moustache stripes, and a white chin. Upperparts are streaked, strongly in Belding's, weakly in Large-billed, palely in Ipswich, and variably in the typical form. Streaking on the flanks and breast sometimes coalesces into a central spot. Legs and feet are pale pinkish or straw-colored.

Savannah Sparrows are slimmer, with smaller and more rounded heads, than the grassland sparrows of the genus Ammodramus, which are thought to be closely related. Grasshopper Sparrows (A. savannarum) have buffy lores, and have streaked underparts as juveniles, but have pointed, not notched tails. The heavily streaked Seaside Sparrows (A. maritimus) also have yellow lores, but have flat foreheads, long bills, and are generally much darker overall.

Song Sparrows (Melospiza melodia) are larger, usually have a more prominent central breast spot, a less distinctive crown stripe, darker bills, and longer rounded tails. When disturbed, Savannah Sparrows tend to either run through the grass or flush with a short low direct flight. Song Sparrow flight is typically jerky and the tail is pumped or wagged to the side. Savannah Sparrows have buffy eye rings that are much less prominent than those of Vesper Sparrows (Pooecetes gramineus) and lack the Vesper Sparrow's chestnut wing coverts and white outer tail feathers.


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