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Savannah Sparrow

Passerculus sandwichensisOrder: PASSERIFORMESFamily: Sparrows (Emberizidae)

Savannah Sparrow Breeding Male Portrait
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General

Savannah Sparrow: Small sparrow with dark-streaked, gray-brown upperparts, white underparts, and heavy streaks on breast and sides. Head has a brown crown with pale central stripe and pale yellow or white eyebrows. Wings are brown with two pale bars. Tail is short and notched. Legs and feet are pink. Sexes are similar. Juvenile is darker.

Range and Habitat

Savannah Sparrow: Breeds from Alaska east to Labrador and south to New Jersey, Missouri, and northern Mexico. Spends winters regularly north to southeastern Alaska and Massachusetts. Found in salt marshes, grasslands, tundra, mountain meadows, sandy regions, and short-grass prairies.

Listen to Call

Voice Text

"zit-zit-zit-zeeee-zaaay", "seep"

Interesting Facts

  • Savannah Sparrows are able runners; once discovered, they drop into the grass and dart away.
  • The "Ipswich Savannah Sparrow," a subspecies that breeds on Sable Island, Nova Scotia, is nearly 50 percent heavier than most other subspecies. It was formerly considered a separate species.
  • It is named after Savannah, Georgia, where one of the first specimens of this bird was collected.
  • A group of sparrows has many collective nouns, including a "crew", "flutter", "meinie", "quarrel", and "ubiquity" of sparrows.


Author

Gary Owen Dick

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Range Map for Savannah Sparrow
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Bird Call Credits: The Macaulay Library of Natural Sounds at the Cornell Lab of Ornithology. Martyn Stewart, http://www.naturesound.org, Redmond, Washington USA. The reuse or copying of bird calls in this database is strictly forbidden.
Family
Species Passerculus sandwichensis
Length5.25 - 6.25 Inches
Wingspan8.75 Inches

Savannah Sparrow

Savannah Sparrow: Small sparrow, dark-streaked, gray-brown upperparts, white underparts, heavy streaks on breast and sides. Head has a brown crown with pale central stripe and pale yellow or white eyebrows. Brown wings have two pale bars. Tail is short and notched. Pink legs and feet.

● Song: "zit-zit-zit-zeeee-zaaay", "seep"

● Foraging & Feeding: Savannah Sparrow: Feeds on seeds, insects, spiders, and sometimes snails. Forages on the ground or in low bushes; scratches in dirt and foliage.

● Breeding & nesting: Savannah Sparrow: Two to six pale green blue or white eggs marked with brown are laid on the ground in a cup nest made of moss and dry grass, and lined with fine hair, fine grass, and roots. Incubation ranges from 10 to 13 days and is carried out by both parents.

● Similar species: Savannah Sparrow: Song Sparrow has a longer, rounded tail without notch, underparts have heavier streaking, and lacks yellow in lores and supercilium. Vesper Sparrow has gray-brown streaking on upperparts, throat, breast, and sides; wing has chestnut patch at bend; white eye ring; brown ear patch.

Flight Pattern

Alternates several rapid wing beats with wings pulled to sides.
Savannah Sparrow Breeding Male Body Illustration
● Range & Habitat: Savannah Sparrow: Breeds from Alaska east to Labrador and south to New Jersey, Missouri, and northern Mexico. Spends winters regularly north to southeastern Alaska and Massachusetts. Found in salt marshes, grasslands, tundra, mountain meadows, sandy regions, and short-grass prairies.
BreedingMonogamous, Solitary nester
PopulationAbundant
MigrationMigratory
Weight0.8 Ounces