Nelson's Sparrow

The Nelson's Sparrow (Ammospiza nelsoni) is a small, highly secretive songbird of North American marshes. Once considered the same species as the Saltmarsh Sparrow (under the name 'Sharp-tailed Sparrow'), it is beloved by birdwatchers for its striking, warm-toned plumage and its mouse-like habit of running through dense marsh grasses. This species is divided into three distinct breeding populations: one in the interior northern Great Plains, one around Hudson Bay, and one along the northern Atlantic coast.

Nelson's Sparrows are easily identified by their rich, golden-buff or bright ochre-orange face, throat, and upper breast, which contrast sharply with a gray ear patch and a gray central crown stripe. The upperparts feature a dark back with conspicuous white or cream hand-painted looking streaks. Their belly is clean white, and the sides of the breast and flanks feature blurry, faint dark streaks.

Similar Species to Distinguish:

• Saltmarsh Sparrow: Very similar and shares wintering grounds. Saltmarsh Sparrows have much crisper, darker, and more distinct streaking on the breast and flanks, a slightly larger bill, and generally less intense orange on the face.
• LeConte's Sparrow: Found in drier grasslands and sedge meadows. LeConte's lacks the gray collar of the Nelson's, has a prominent white stripe down the center of its crown (rather than gray), and features a pinkish-gray nape.
• Henslow's Sparrow: Easily distinguished by its olive-green head and neck, and overall rustier back.

Nelson's Sparrows occupy distinct habitats depending on the population and season:

• Breeding Ranges: The interior population breeds in freshwater prairie sloughs, wet meadows, and sedge bogs across the northern Great Plains. The Hudson Bay population nests in brackish coastal marshes. The Atlantic coast population nests in tidal saltmarshes from Maine to Canada's maritime provinces.
• Migration and Winter: All populations migrate to coastal saltmarshes along the Atlantic and Gulf coasts of North America, from New York down to Texas. During migration, interior birds can occasionally be found in damp agricultural fields, lakeshores, and overgrown grassy ditches.

Secretive Mechanics

Nelson's Sparrows are notoriously difficult to see, preferring to run through dense cordgrass and rushes rather than take flight. When flushed, they perform a brief, low, jerky flight with their tail pumping slightly, before dropping abruptly back into the grass.

Vocalizations

The male's song is a quiet, mechanical, wheezy hiss, often described as the sound of a drop of water sizzling on a hot frying pan: pt-shhhhhhhh-up. They sing both day and night during the breeding season, often from low, concealed perches within the marsh vegetation.

Feeding & Nesting

• Diet: In summer, they feed on insects, spiders, and aquatic invertebrates. In winter, they supplement this diet with seeds of marsh grasses.
• Nesting: Nests are built entirely by the female. They are open cups woven from grasses, situated on or just inches above the wet ground, often attached to stands of cordgrass to rise and fall with high tides.