Henslow's Sparrow

Ammodramus henslowiiOrder: PASSERIFORMESFamily: Sparrows (Emberizidae)

General

Henslow's Sparrow: Small sparrow with black-streaked brown upperparts. Breast, sides, and flanks are dark-streaked pale buff; throat and belly are white. Head is olive-brown. Sexes are similar. Juvenile is paler, washed buff-brown and has fewer streaks on underparts.

Range and Habitat

Henslow's Sparrow: Breeds locally from Minnesota, southern Ontario, and central New York (rarely New England) south to Kansas, Illinois, and North Carolina. Spends winters in Gulf coast states and along Atlantic coast to South Carolina. Inhabits moist or dry grasslands with scattered weeds and small shrubs.

Listen to Call

Voice Text

"flee-LICK", "tsip"

Interesting Facts

Henslow's Sparrow was named by John James Audubon in honor of John Stevens Henslow, a botanist, minister, good friend of Audubon, and teacher of Charles Darwin.
Its population numbers have declined steadily over the past few decades, largely because of habitat loss.
An isolated population that once bred in coastal Texas and was considered by some to represent a unique subspecies has been lost to development.
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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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.

Henslow's Sparrow

Henslow's Sparrow: Small sparrow, black-streaked brown upperparts. Breast, sides, and flanks are dark-streaked pale buff; throat and belly are white. Head is olive-brown with dark lines. Weak fluttering flight with tail jerking, alternates rapid wing beats with wings pulled to sides.

● Song: "flee-LICK", "tsip"

● Foraging & Feeding: Henslow's Sparrow: Eats insects, caterpillars, and seeds; forages on the ground around vegetation.

● Breeding & nesting: Henslow's Sparrow: Three to five creamy white to pale green eggs marked with red brown are laid in a nest woven from grass and forbs, usually built on the ground in a slight hollow or sheltered by a grassy clump or weeds. Eggs are incubated for 11 days by the female.

● Similar species: Henslow's Sparrow: Grasshopper Sparrow has a brown to buff head, pale central crown stripe, dark stripe behind the eye, and buff wash on unstreaked, white underparts.

Flight Pattern

Alternates several rapid wing beats with wings pulled to sides., Weak fluttering flight with jerking of tail, low over vegetation.

Henslow's Sparrow Breeding Male Body Illustration

● Range & Habitat: Henslow's Sparrow: Breeds locally from Minnesota, southern Ontario, and central New York (rarely New England) south to Kansas, Illinois, and North Carolina. Spends winters in Gulf coast states and along Atlantic coast to South Carolina. Inhabits moist or dry grasslands with scattered weeds and small shrubs.

^BreedingMonogamous, Large colonies

^PopulationYes but uncommon

^MigrationMigratory

^Weight0.5 Ounces

Field Guide to Birds of North America