Saltmarsh Sharp-tailed Sparrow

Overview

Saltmarsh Sharp-tailed Sparrow: Small sparrow, pale-streaked gray back, white throat, heavily streaked buff breast and sides, white belly. Head has dark cap, thick, orange-brown eyebrows and gray ear patches. Gray wings with orange-brown shoulders. Brown tail is pointed.

Range and Habitat

Saltmarsh Sharp-tailed Sparrow: Uncommon to common and local in saltwater marshes along the Atlantic coast.

INTERESTING FACTS

A secretive species with very narrow habitat requirements, the Saltmarsh Sharp-tailed Sparrow is found only in the coastal saltmarshes of the eastern U.S.
This species has not been adequately surveyed through the Breeding Bird Survey because it occurs in relatively inaccessible saltmarsh habitats, but the population is thought to have declined because of broad-scale alteration of saltmarsh habitats over the last 50 years.
Until 1995 this bird and the Nelson's Sharp-tailed Sparrow were thought to be a single species, the Sharp-tailed Sparrow.
A group of sparrows has many collective nouns, including a "crew", "flutter", "meinie", "quarrel", and "ubiquity" of sparrows.

The Saltmarsh Sharp-tailed Sparrow has a small range, confined to a small strip of Atlantic Coast from Maine to North Carolina. Native to the United States and vagrant in Canada, this bird prefers inland wetland or intertidal marine ecosystems. The global population of this bird is estimated at 250,000 individuals and shows signs of population and habitat decline that necessitate inclusion on the IUCN Red List. For this reason, the current evaluation status of the Saltmarsh Sharp-tailed Sparrow is Vulnerable.