Grasshopper Sparrow

Ammodramus savannarum

As its name suggests, the Grasshopper Sparrow loves dense grasslands. Not only are they fond of eating grasshoppers, their song sounds similar to a grasshopper’s. These birds are smaller than most of their sparrow cousins and because they tend to stay on the ground, they are difficult to spot in the field. In the breeding season, the males will sing from slightly elevated perches in the grass fields they love.

Summer breeding takes place over most of the USA east of the Rocky Mountains and the coastal strip in California. Some of these birds will breed west of the Rockies in Wyoming, Idaho, and Washington. In winter, they migrate into the southeastern states of the USA and most of Mexico.