Saltmarsh Sparrow
Saltmarsh Sparrow
Ammospiza caudacuta
At a Glance
A bird of the coast, named for the spiky tips on its tail feathers (which it shares with several related kinds of sparrows). Saltmarsh Sparrows have an unusual mating system for a songbird, with males simply roving about looking for females rather than defending a nesting territory.
All bird guide text and rangemaps adapted from Lives of North American Birds by Kenn Kaufman© 1996, used by permission of Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.
Category
New World Sparrows, Perching Birds
IUCN Status
Endangered
Habitat
Coasts and Shorelines, Saltwater Wetlands
Region
Florida, Mid Atlantic, New England, Southeast
Behavior
Direct Flight, Flitter, Running
Population
60.000
Range & Identification
Migration & Range Maps
Migrates at night, traveling along coastline. Apparently moves only short distances, with most wintering along southern Atlantic Coast, and many present through the winter in much of the breeding range.
Description
5 1/2" (14 cm). Smaller and paler than Seaside Sparrow, with stronger face pattern. Very similar to Nelson's Sparrow (which occurs in the same marshes in winter), but has whiter chest (less buffy) with heavier streaking.
Size
About the size of a Sparrow
Color
Brown, Gray, Orange, Tan, White
Wing Shape
Broad
Tail Shape
Multi-pointed, Pointed, Rounded, Short
Songs and Calls
Complex song, but very quiet, with a wheezy or whispered quality Syllables of complex song include trills and accented syllables, with each syllable differing from those preceding and following. Only the male sings. Male can continue with a single uninterrupted song from one perch, through a short flight, through another perch.
Call Pattern
Falling, Flat
Call Type
Buzz, Chirp/Chip, Trill
Habitat
Coastal marshes. Found mostly in salt marshes with sedges, rushes, cordgrass, saltgrass, and other typical plants; sometimes in fresh marshes or fields adjacent to coast.
Sign up for Audubon's newsletter to learn more about birds like the Saltmarsh Sparrow
Behavior
Eggs
3-5, sometimes 2-6. Greenish white to pale blue-green, heavily dotted with reddish-brown. Incubation is by female only, 11-12 days.
Young
Nestlings are fed by female alone. Young leave nest about 8-11 days after hatching, may remain with female for another 2-3 weeks. Often 2 broods per year.
Feeding Behavior
Forages while walking on the ground or while climbing in marsh plants. Picks items from surface of plants, ground, or water, and sometimes probes in mud.
Diet
Mostly insects and other invertebrates, some seeds. Animal matter makes up much of winter diet and almost all of summer diet. Feeds on insects (including grasshoppers, beetles, caterpillars, ants, wasps, others), spiders, amphipods, small crabs and snails, marine worms, other invertebrates. Also eats seeds of grasses and other marsh plants, especially in fall and winter.
Nesting
Unusual breeding system. Males do not defend territories, but move around large area of marsh, singing to attract females. Both sexes are promiscuous, and no pairs are formed; males take no part in caring for the eggs or young. Nest site is in marsh, usually where standing plants are mixed with much dead grass remaining from preceding seasons. Nests usually placed just above normal high tide mark; many nests are destroyed by extreme tides. Nest (built by female) is a bulky open cup of grass, sometimes partially domed over, with lining of finer grass.
Climate Vulnerability
Conservation Status
Undoubtedly has declined in many regions with loss of coastal marsh habitat.
Climate Threats Facing the Saltmarsh Sparrow
Choose a temperature scenario below to see which threats will affect this species as warming increases. The same climate change-driven threats that put birds at risk will affect other wildlife and people, too.