Bird GuideNew World SparrowsSaltmarsh Sparrow

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.
Category
New World Sparrows, Perching Birds
Conservation
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 Robin, 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.

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 Map

Audubon’s scientists have used 140 million bird observations and sophisticated climate models to project how climate change will affect the range of the Saltmarsh Sparrow. Learn even more in our Audubon’s Survival By Degrees project.

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.

Explore More