Nelson's Sparrow
Ammospiza nelsoni
This bright sparrow has multiple disjunct populations; inland breeders are generally brighter than coastal breeders. Atlantic birds have a duller buffy face and breast with blurry gray streaking; Interior birds are brighter orange with crisper black streaking. Similar to Saltmarsh Sparrow but shows less contrast between the face, throat, and breast and has a shorter blue-gray bill. Inland birds can be confused with LeConte's Sparrow but note clean gray nape and gray, not white, stripe in crown. Conspicuous when singing, otherwise secretive. Its song is a simple hiss like water sizzling in a frying pan. Winters in coastal marshes along most of Atlantic seaboard and Gulf Coast.
Identification
Measurements:<p>Adults have brownish upperparts with gray on the crown and nape, a cream-colored breast with light or indistinct streaking and a white throat and belly; they have an orange face with gray cheeks and a short pointed tail.
Taxonomy
This bird was named after Edward William Nelson, an American naturalist. Formerly, this bird and the saltmarsh sparrow (Ammospiza caudacuta) were considered to be a single species, the sharp-tailed sparrow; because of this it was briefly known as Nelson's sharp-tailed sparrow.
- Scientific name
- Ammospiza nelsoni
- Authority
- (Allen, JA, 1875)
- Order
- Passeriformes
- Family
- Passerellidae
- Genus
- Ammospiza
Range and habitat
Their breeding habitat is marshes on the Atlantic coast of Canada and Maine, central Canada, (the Canadian Prairies region and a coastal strip on the south of Hudson Bay), and the north-central United States.
- Breeding range
- NA : Canada and n USA
- Non-breeding range
- se USA
- Migration
- Complete migrants
Behavior
These birds migrate to the southeastern coast of the United States. They forage on the ground or in marsh vegetation, sometimes probing in mud and eat mainly insects, aquatic invertebrates and seeds. Their call is a raspy trill, almost a mechanical sound. It may be given in flight during the nesting season. The sound has been likened to a drop of water hitting a hot fry pan.
Conservation
- Population trend
- rising
Photos
Distribution
Bird Calls
Other Birds
Wood Thrush
Hylocichla mustelina
Boldly patterned thrush is bright rusty-brown above with black spots on the white belly. Smaller than a robin, but larger than Hermit Thrush. Sticks to wooded areas, often hopping on the ground. More often heard than seen: listen for its incredible, flute-like song. Population is declining; winters in Central America.
Stiles's Tapaculo
Scytalopus stilesi
A standard Scytalopus tapaculo: plain dark gray with browner flanks and rump. Acts like a mouse, scurrying around on or near the ground within montane forest. Extremely limited range in the central Andes of Colombia. Far more often heard than seen. Listen for froglike churring song, given as a long series of short bursts.
Alström's Warbler
Phylloscopus soror
Sprightly, small warbler that poses a bevy of identification issues. Dull olive above and yellow below, with a bright eyering and a gray crown bound in by black stripes. Extremely similar to closely-related Martens’s, Gray-crowned, White-spectacled, and Bianchi’s Warblers; often impossible to identify if seen poorly in where range overlap is possible. Weak or absent wingbar distinguishes this species from Whistler’s, Bianchi’s, and White-spectacled warblers. Slightly larger-billed and shorter-tailed and with more restricted white in outer tail feathers than Martens’s and Gray-crowned warblers. Breeding altitudinal range (600–1500 m) can be helpful: does not overlap with higher-breeding Bianchi’s Warbler (1760–3100 m in China) and minutely with Martens’s Warbler (1200–2300 m). Overlap more extensive with Gray-crowned Warbler (120–1830 m in China) and White-spectacled Warbler (1000–1750 m in China). Simple, short song can be an identification clincher: a brief “che-witchy-chew-witchy-chew”, lacking the trilled notes of Martens’s, Gray-crowned, and White-spectacled warbler, and higher in pitch than Bianchi’s Warbler. Forages low, often in dense growth, of temperate evergreen forests, descending during the non-breeding season into forested lowlands, where overlap with non-singing similar species can make identification nearly impossible.
Start Your Bird Watching Journey
Identify a bird outdoors and keep the field guide close for your next observation.