Home/Species/ Swamp Sparrow

Melospiza georgiana

(Latham, 1790)

Swamp Sparrow

G5Secure Found in 18 roadless areas NatureServe Explorer →

G5SecureGlobal Rank

Least concernIUCN

Identity

Unique IDELEMENT_GLOBAL.2.103651

Element CodeABPBXA3030

Record TypeSPECIES

ClassificationSpecies

Classification StatusStandard

Name CategoryVertebrate Animal

IUCNLeast concern

Endemicoccurs (regularly, as a native taxon) in multiple nations

KingdomAnimalia

PhylumCraniata

ClassAves

OrderPasseriformes

FamilyPasserellidae

GenusMelospiza

Other Common Names

Bruant des marais (FR) Gorrión Pantanero (ES) swamp sparrow (EN)

Concept Reference

American Ornithologists' Union (AOU). 1998. Check-list of North American birds. Seventh edition. American Ornithologists' Union, Washington, D.C. [as modified by subsequent supplements and corrections published in The Auk]. Also available online: http://www.aou.org/.

Taxonomic Comments

Inland and coastal populations along mid-Atlantic coast show marked morphological and life history differences; M. G. nigrescens regarded as a well-marked subspecies by Greenberg and Droege (1990). Greenberg et al. (1998) examined mitochondrial DNA differentiation between nigrescens, georgiana, and epicrypta and found low levels of genetic variation and no evidence of geographic structure.

Conservation Status

Rank MethodExpertise without calculation

Review Date2016-04-09

Change Date1996-12-04

Range Extent Comments

BREEDING: Mackenzie to northern Saskatchewan and Labrador, south to British Columbia, central Saskatchewan, Dakotas, eastern Nebraska, central Ohio, and Delaware. NON-BREEDING: eastern Nebraska, Iowa, Great Lakes region, and southern New England south to southeastern Arizona, southern Texas, Gulf Coast, southern Florida.

Ecology & Habitat

Habitat

BREEDING: Marshes, wet brushy fields, meadows, lakeshores, stream borders, swamps, pine barrens shrub-sedge bogs; also brackish marshes along mid-Atlantic coast (Greenberg and Droege 1990). Nests in tussock of grass, sedge, or in low bush, commonly over water. NON-BREEDING: In migration and winter also in weedy fields, brush, thickets, scrub, and forest edge (AOU 1998).

Reproduction

Clutch size 2-6 (usually 4-5 in most areas). Usually 2 broods per year. Incubation 12-15 days, by female. Young leave nest at 9-13 days.

Terrestrial Habitats

Shrubland/chaparralGrassland/herbaceousOld field

Palustrine Habitats

HERBACEOUS WETLANDSCRUB-SHRUB WETLANDFORESTED WETLANDBog/fenRiparian

Other Nations (2)

United StatesN5B,N5N

Province	Rank	Native
Pennsylvania	S5B	Yes
Nebraska	S3	Yes
Georgia	S5	Yes
Rhode Island	S4B	Yes
Montana	S4M	Yes
New Mexico	S4N	Yes
Vermont	S5B	Yes
Wyoming	S5N	Yes
Washington	SNA	Yes
West Virginia	S3B,S4N	Yes
Wisconsin	S4B	Yes
South Carolina	S4N	Yes
North Dakota	S3	Yes
Arizona	S2N	Yes
Florida	SNRN	Yes
Virginia	S1B,S4N	Yes
Oregon	S3N	Yes
Oklahoma	S2N	Yes
Minnesota	SNRB	Yes
New Jersey	S4B,S4N	Yes
Ohio	S4	Yes
Indiana	S3N,S4B	Yes
Delaware	S3B,S4N	Yes
Maine	S5B,S5N	Yes
Kansas	S3N	Yes
Arkansas	S4N	Yes
North Carolina	S5N	Yes
Kentucky	S4N	Yes
Colorado	SNA	Yes
Iowa	S3B,S5N	Yes
Missouri	SNA	Yes
Navajo Nation	S2N	Yes
New York	S5B	Yes
Michigan	S5	Yes
Alabama	S5N	Yes
Maryland	S4B,S5N	Yes
Utah	S3N	Yes
Connecticut	S5B	Yes
Louisiana	S5N	Yes
Illinois	S5	Yes
District of Columbia	S2N	Yes
Massachusetts	S5B,S5N	Yes
California	SNA	Yes
Tennessee	S4N	Yes
South Dakota	S4B	Yes
New Hampshire	S5B	Yes
Texas	S4	Yes
Mississippi	SNA	Yes

CanadaN5B,N4N

Province	Rank	Native
Nunavut	SUB	Yes
Quebec	S5B	Yes
Manitoba	S5B	Yes
Prince Edward Island	S5B	Yes
Ontario	S5B,S4N	Yes
Alberta	S5B,SUN	Yes
British Columbia	S4	Yes
Nova Scotia	S5B	Yes
Northwest Territories	S5	Yes
Island of Newfoundland	S5B	Yes
Saskatchewan	S5B	Yes
New Brunswick	S5B	Yes
Yukon Territory	S3B	Yes
Labrador	S3B,SUM	Yes

Roadless Areas (18)

Florida (1)

Area	Forest	Acres
Alexander Springs Creek	Ocala National Forest	2,954

New Hampshire (2)

Area	Forest	Acres
Kearsarge	White Mountain National Forest	4,554
Pemigewasset	White Mountain National Forest	32,255

New Mexico (1)

Area	Forest	Acres
Last Chance Canyon	Lincoln National Forest	8,934

North Carolina (3)

Area	Forest	Acres
Bald Mountain	Pisgah National Forest	11,085
Bearwallow	Pisgah National Forest	4,113
Jarrett Creek	Pisgah National Forest	7,485

Tennessee (2)

Area	Forest	Acres
Bald Mountain	Cherokee National Forest	11,743
Flint Mill Gap	Cherokee National Forest	9,494

Virginia (5)

Area	Forest	Acres
Bear Creek	Jefferson National Forest	18,274
Brush Mountain	Jefferson National Forest	6,002
Raccoon Branch	Jefferson National Forest	4,388
Ramseys Draft Addition	George Washington National Forest	12,781
Seng Mountain	Jefferson National Forest	6,428

West Virginia (4)

Area	Forest	Acres
Cranberry Addition	Monongahela National Forest	11,123
Cranberry Glades Botanical Area	Monongahela National Forest	785
Dolly Sods Roaring Plain	Monongahela National Forest	13,392
Falls Of Hills Creek	Monongahela National Forest	6,925

References (25)

American Ornithologists' Union (AOU). 1983. Check-list of North American Birds, 6th edition. Allen Press, Inc., Lawrence, Kansas. 877 pp.
American Ornithologists' Union (AOU). 1998. Check-list of North American birds. Seventh edition. American Ornithologists' Union, Washington, D.C. [as modified by subsequent supplements and corrections published in The Auk]. Also available online: http://www.aou.org/.
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BirdLife International. 2004b. Threatened birds of the world 2004. CD ROM. BirdLife International, Cambridge, UK.
Greenberg, R. 1988. Water as a habitat cue fro breeding swamp and song sparrows. Condor 90:420-427.
Greenberg, R., and S. Droege. 1990. Adaptations to tidal marshes in breeding populations of the swamp sparrow. Condor 92:393-404.
Greenberg, R., P.J. Cordero, S. Droege, and R.C. Fleischer. 1998. Morphological adaptation with no mitochondrial DNA differentiation in the Coastal Plain Swamp Sparrow. Auk 115(3):706-712.
Harrison, C. 1978. A Field Guide to the Nests, Eggs and Nestlings of North American Birds. Collins, Cleveland, Ohio.
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Moore, W. S., and R. A. Dolbeer. 1989. The use of banding recovery data to estimate dispersal rates and gene flow in avian species: case studies in the Red-winged Blackbird and Common Grackle. Condor 91:242-253.
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Terres, J. K. 1980. The Audubon Society encyclopedia of North American birds. Alfred A. Knopf, New York.
Thompson, F. R., III. 1994. Temporal and spatial patterns of breeding brown-headed cowbirds in the midwestern United States. Auk 111:979-990.
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