| Le Conte's Sparrow (Ammodramus lecontei) (Audubon, 1844) |
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Ammodramus lecontei nests throughout central and southern Canada (from southern Yukon and the Rocky Mountains to St. Lawrence River) and north-central United States (North Dakota to the Upper Peninsula of Michigan); isolated nesting records in British Columbia. Short-distance migrant wintering in the southeastern United States from southern Illinois to the coast of the Gulf of Mexico; east to Florida. Nesting habitat includes wet prairies, sedge meadows, fens, and moist hayfields. In winter, Le Conte’s Sparrow inhabits remnants of tallgrass prairies and old fields. A small sparrow (length ca. 12 cm; weight 12-16 g) with short slaty-blue bill; light-colored median crown stripe; grayish ear coverts; bright buff supercilium, malar stripe and throat; breast buff; belly whitish; back is gray with black and buff steaks; short and rounded wings; short tail with pointed rectrices; pinkish feet and legs. Arrives at breeding grounds between late April and mid-May. Nest is built in thick clumps of dead sedges or grasses; 0-20 cm above the ground; well concealed. Eggs (4-5) are laid in late May-early July; incubation 11-13 days; the young leave nest 7-9 days after hatching. See Patrikeev (2006) for more details on nesting in north-eastern Ontario. Southbound migration from September. Le Conte’s Sparrow feeds on insects and other arthropods, and seeds.
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