LeConte's Sparrow

Ammospiza leconteii

Skulks through wet prairie so well it was considered rare for a century. Still delivers, just quietly.

Habitat: Moist, open grassy areas with dense vegetation cover and litter — wet meadows, sedge marshes, damp fields, crop stubble, fens, and grassy prairie, including sites within or near boreal forest during the breeding season.
Fun fact: One of the smallest New World sparrows, LeConte's Sparrow is a secretive, ground-hugging skulker whose thin, insect-like buzzy song is easy to overlook in dense grass; the oldest banded individual on record was just over 4 years old (recaptured in Michigan in 2007).
Range: Breeds across south-central/boreal Canada (northeastern British Columbia through Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba, Ontario to Quebec) and the north-central U.S. (Michigan, Minnesota, Montana, North Dakota); winters in the southeastern and south-central U.S., roughly from central Texas and Missouri/Illinois east to the Gulf Coast and Carolinas.
Diet: Insects (weevils, leafhoppers, leaf beetles, stinkbugs, caterpillars, moths, spiders) in summer; shifts to grass and weed seeds (e.g., northern dropseed, Indian grass, panic-grass, bluestem) in winter.
Size: 0.12 m
Wingspan: 0.18 m
Lifespan: 4 years

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