THE CREAGRUS CALIFORNIA LIST
A personal portfolio
all photos & text by Don Roberson
all photos taken in California
GRASSHOPPER SPARROW Ammodramus savannarum
23 May 1999 along Meiss Rd. in eastern SAC

The GRASSHOPPER SPARROW is a widespread breeder in appropriate grasslands throughout coastal California and in the foothills ringing the Central Valley. It is unclear how many remain to winter but at least some of them do, although it is presumed that most migrate south for the winter. The species is shy and difficult to observe when not singing. Migrants can occur just about anywhere in the fall but are not common.

Most of my California records are of breeding birds on territory. The only ones listed below are a handful of singing birds that peaked my interest and the few migrants encountered:

5/25/79 Furnace Creek INY    1 migrant
6/21/80  1 mi N of Pescadero SM 1 singing male; turns out it is regular here
6/10/86 Little Shasta Valley SIS 1 singing male seen; scarce here
11/3/87 Pt. Pinos MTY 1 imm
10/20/90 Big Sur R. mouth MTY 1 imm
10/2/99 Big Sur R. m. mesa MTY 1 bright imm
See the family page for county abbreviations. All photos & text © 2002 Don Roberson; all rights reserved.
Readers may use this material for their own private enjoyment, study, or research but none of the photos or text herein may be used commercially nor may they be reposted on other web sites without written permission. All material is copyrighted. The posting of photos and text on this private web site is not a submission to review organizations, including, but not limited to, the California Bird Record Committee. However, blanket permission for use of descriptions by North American Birds editors in their research is granted, and serious researchers in general are granted permission to use the records cited herein.

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Page created 6 Feb 2002