Savannah Sparrow

Passerculus sandwichensis

The Savannah Sparrow, and all its various subspecies, breed all over the North American continent. We find them from Nevada, Utah, Colorado, Nebraska, Missouri, the Ohio River Valley, and into New England and northward. Most of these birds winter south of the Mason-Dixon Line and in the desert southwest of the USA, and Mexico.

The Belding’s subspecies is endangered. They are resident along the coast of Southern California and Baja California. The cause of their decline is loss of habitat. Because I enjoy exploring the bogs and marshes around the south end of San Diego Bay, this is the subspecies I’ve seen most often.

While in the company of biologists during a tern-nesting survey, I watched a fledgling Belding’s Savannah Sparrow perform a successful action to avoid our ‘bipedal threat’. Once we passed its position, the young bird flew off in the blink of an eye. We were at the Saltworks on South San Diego Bay NWR, San Diego County, California.

Science recognizes 28 subspecies of Savannah Sparrow separated into five groups. Most are defined by region. We sometimes use bill and body size in their descriptions.

Princeps Group
- P. s. princeps (a.k.a. Ipswitch Sparrow) breeds on Sable Island, Nova Scotia, and spends winters coastally in the Maritime provinces, New England and sometimes south to the Carolinas.
Sandwichensis Group
- P. s. sandwichensis breeds on the eastern Aleutian Islands and islands off Alaska Peninsula. They spend winters coastally from British Columbia to northern California.
- P. s. anthinus breeds across much of Alaska, Yukon, and the Mackenzie Valley (NWT) south to northern British Columbia, and also on Nunavik and Herschel Island. They spend winters south to the Baja California peninsula and northwestern Mexico.
- P. s. brooksi breeds in southwestern British Columbia, including Vancouver Island, western Washington, Oregon, and northwestern California. They spend winters coastally (rarely inland) south to southern California and northern Baja California.
- P. s. nevadensis breeds from eastern British Columbia east through Manitoba and south to eastern California, east across the Great Basin and the northern Great Plains. They spend winters south to the Baja California peninsula and central Mexico.
- P. s. labradorius breeds in the northern Great Lakes region north to Hudson Bay and the Ungava Peninsula and east to Labrador. They spend winters south to the Gulf states.
- P. s. savanna breeds in the southern Great Lakes region east to the Maritime Provinces, north to the Gaspé Peninsula, and south to Iowa and New Jersey. They spend winters south to South Carolina and Florida.
- P. s. alaudinus lives coastally in California from Humboldt Bay south to central California at Point Conception.
- P. s. brunnescens lives from the northern Mexican Plateau south to Lerma and the Valley of Mexico.
- P. s. wetmorei lives in the highlands of southwestern Guatemala.
Beldingi Group
- P. s. beldingi lives in salt marshes (with rare exceptions), of the Pacific Coast from Point Conception, California, south to El Rosario, Baja California (Mexico).
- P. s. anulus lives in salt marshes around the northern base of the Vizcaino Peninsula in southern Baja California.
- P. s. guttatus is resident at Laguna San Ignacio in southern Baja California.
- P. s. magdalenae lives at Bahía Magdalena in southern Baja California.
Sanctorum Group
- P. s. sanctorum lives on Islas San Benito in Baja California.
Rostratus Group (Large-Billed)
- P. s. rostratus breeds in northeastern Baja California and north-western Sonora.
- P. s. atratus breeds in southwestern Sonora and northwestern Sinaloa.

During my travels, I’ve met these birds over most of the Western USA, but I’ve also enjoyed meeting them in the Canadian Yukon. They were regular visitors on the lawns I visited during spring migration on South Padre Island in 2020 and 2021.

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