The Arizona Grasshopper Sparrow (Ammodramus savannarum ammolegus) is a disjunct race that breeds in desert grasslands of southeastern Arizona, extreme southwestern New Mexico, and adjacent parts of northern Sonora and Chihuahua, Mexico.
This subspecies was only recently documented as breeding in the Animas Valley of New Mexico. Partners in Flight and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service both consider it a subspecies of conservation concern for desert grassland habitats. Concerns regarding this subspecies focus on the apparent extreme fluctuations in a relatively small breeding population, the effects of habitat loss due to suburban development, the effects of habitat modification due to management practices such as fire and intensive grazing, and limited information about its breeding ecology. This task will provide valuable information to managers by addressing research needs identified in the Partners in Flight Bird Conservation Plans for Arizona and New Mexico. The initial phase of this research involved the repetition of historical roadside breeding-bird surveys of abundance and distribution that were conducted in 1982 and 1987 in order to compare abundance and distribution over this time period. These comparisons showed that the Sonoita and San Rafael Valleys in Arizona and the Animas Valley in New Mexico continue to support the primary population centers for this subspecies. A pattern of increasing numbers of singing males was documented from 1982–1987 from the historical surveys, and a subsequent decline to intermediate numbers (higher than 1982 but lower than 1987) was documented in 2004–2005. Small populations remain in other grassland valleys in southeastern Arizona. A second phase of this task was initiated in 2009 with Arizona Grasshopper Sparrow breeding ecology studies to map territories, measure territory vegetation, band individuals, and search for and monitor nests on two sites within the core breeding range in the Sonoita Valley.
Below are publications associated with this project.
Status assessment and conservation plan for the Grasshopper Sparrow (Ammodramus savannarum)
Distribution of breeding Arizona Grasshopper Sparrow (Ammodramus savannarum ammolegus) in the southwestern United States: Past, present, and future
Molt and aging criteria for four North American grassland passerines
- Overview
The Arizona Grasshopper Sparrow (Ammodramus savannarum ammolegus) is a disjunct race that breeds in desert grasslands of southeastern Arizona, extreme southwestern New Mexico, and adjacent parts of northern Sonora and Chihuahua, Mexico.
Janet Ruth releasing a color-banded male Grasshopper Sparrow. Photo by Noel Snyder. Public domain. This subspecies was only recently documented as breeding in the Animas Valley of New Mexico. Partners in Flight and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service both consider it a subspecies of conservation concern for desert grassland habitats. Concerns regarding this subspecies focus on the apparent extreme fluctuations in a relatively small breeding population, the effects of habitat loss due to suburban development, the effects of habitat modification due to management practices such as fire and intensive grazing, and limited information about its breeding ecology. This task will provide valuable information to managers by addressing research needs identified in the Partners in Flight Bird Conservation Plans for Arizona and New Mexico. The initial phase of this research involved the repetition of historical roadside breeding-bird surveys of abundance and distribution that were conducted in 1982 and 1987 in order to compare abundance and distribution over this time period. These comparisons showed that the Sonoita and San Rafael Valleys in Arizona and the Animas Valley in New Mexico continue to support the primary population centers for this subspecies. A pattern of increasing numbers of singing males was documented from 1982–1987 from the historical surveys, and a subsequent decline to intermediate numbers (higher than 1982 but lower than 1987) was documented in 2004–2005. Small populations remain in other grassland valleys in southeastern Arizona. A second phase of this task was initiated in 2009 with Arizona Grasshopper Sparrow breeding ecology studies to map territories, measure territory vegetation, band individuals, and search for and monitor nests on two sites within the core breeding range in the Sonoita Valley.
- Publications
Below are publications associated with this project.
Status assessment and conservation plan for the Grasshopper Sparrow (Ammodramus savannarum)
The Grasshopper Sparrow (Ammodramus savannarum) breeds in grassland habitats throughout much of the U.S., southern and southeastern Canada, and northern Mexico. Additional subspecies are resident in Central America, northern South America, and the Caribbean. It winters primarily in the coastal states of the southeastern U.S., southern portions of the southwestern states, and in Mexico, Central AmeAuthorsJanet M. RuthDistribution of breeding Arizona Grasshopper Sparrow (Ammodramus savannarum ammolegus) in the southwestern United States: Past, present, and future
The Arizona Grasshopper Sparrow (Ammodramus savannarum ammolegus) breeds in desert grasslands of southeastern Arizona and southwestern New Mexico in the US, and in adjacent parts of northern Sonora and Chihuahua, Mexico. Roads that were surveyed in 1982 and 1987 in Arizona and New Mexico were relocated and roadside survey protocols were repeated in 2004 and 2005 to identify changes in distributionAuthorsJanet M. RuthMolt and aging criteria for four North American grassland passerines
Prairie and grassland habitats in central and western North America have declined substantially since settlement by Europeans (Knopf 1994) and many of the birds and other organisms that inhabit North American grasslands have experienced steep declines (Peterjohn and Sauer 1999; Johnson and Igl 1997; Sauer, Hines, and Fallon 2007). The species addressed here, Sprague’s Pipit (Anthus spragueii), GraAuthorsPeter Pyle, Stephanie L. Jones, Janet M. Ruth