Rate of Decline: percent in 40 years
Global Population: 5.8 million
Continental Population: 5.8 million now, 18 million 40 years ago
Watch List Status: 
Appearance: Small brown songbird with a light rusty cap and a bright pink bill.
Vocalization: A distinctive song is sung in minor-key notes that start slowly then speed up into a trill, then repeat.
Listen (© Lang Elliot, Nature Sound Studio).
Habitat: Found in abandoned fields with scattered shrubs and trees.
Range: United States east of the Rocky Mountains. In Canada, breeds in southern Ontario and a few other places; reaches northeastern Mexico in winter.
Feeding: During the winter, Field Sparrows forage in small flocks for small grass seeds. During the breeding season, adult and larval insects are added to the diet, and Field Sparrows forage alone or with their mates. If a large patch of high-quality food is discovered, larger flocks will form to take advantage of it.
Reproduction: Nests are an open-cup structure lined with grasses and hair. Pairs often need to nest several times in a breeding season due to heavy predation. Nests built early in the season tend to be close to the ground, whereas later nests are usually located higher up in shrubs or young trees. Clutch size ranges from 2 to 5 eggs. The Brown-headed Cowbird sometimes parasitizes nests during egg-laying, and these nests are usually then deserted.
Conservation Issues & Efforts:
- Threats: The major threat to this species is habitat loss. Field Sparrow habitat is successional. Also, much habitat is lost to human developments for agriculture, forestry, and buildings.
- Outlook: Field Sparrows may never regain their former abundance, but it might be possible to stabilize their populations by working to ensure the management of suitable habitat for this and other species which depend on successional grassland habitats.
What Can You Do:
- Preserve Farmlands
Promote strong conservation provisions in the federal farm bill, especially the Conservation Reserve Program (CRP), which pays farmers to keep marginal farmlands idle and supports millions of acres of good bird habitat. Contact your county’s office of the Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) or Farm Service Agency (FSA) to find out how to increase the number of acres devoted to helping birds dependent on farmlands.
- Protect Early Successional Habitat
New patches of successional habitat need to be deliberately created on a regular basis, or existing patches need to be burned or manipulated to keep them in suitable habitat. Work with local officials to be sure that power line rights-of-way are properly managed for Field Sparrows and other species that depend on successional habitats. Encourage managers of parks and natural areas to leave suitable habitat.
For more Information:
References:
Carey, M., D.E. Burhans, and D.A. Nelson (1994). Field Sparrow (
Spizella pusilla).
The Birds of North America Online (A. Poole and F. Gill, Eds.). Philadelphia: The Academy of Natural Sciences and Washington, DC: The American Ornithologists’ Union. Retrieved from The Birds of North America Online database:
http://bna.birds.cornell.edu/BNA/account/Field_Sparrow/
Kaufman, Kenn.
Guía de campo a las aves de Norteamérica. New York: Houghton Mifflin Company, 2005.
