Bird Conservation
> Waterbird Conservation >
Saltmarsh Sharp-tailed Sparrow
Ammodramus caudacutus
Family: EMBERIZINAE
Order: Passeriformes
Spanish Common Name: Sabanero de cola aguda
(c) John Cassady |
Courtesy Kenn Kaufman |
|
Conservation Status
Global Population: 250,000
Continental Population: 250,000
Watchlist Status: 
Audubon State of the Birds Status: globally vulnerable
On the edge of the Atlantic coast, the Saltmarsh Sharp-tailed Sparrow lives in a shrinking ribbon of grassland. This bright-faced songbird usually prefers to run or clamber through the marsh, rather than to fly over it. The Saltmarsh and Nelson's Sharp-tailed Sparrows were considered a single species until 1995. The separation into two species focused attention on the plight of the Saltmarsh Sharp-tailed Sparrow's habitat and the need to better understand its biology.
Range & Distribution
Confined to coastal marshes, the Saltmarsh Sharp-tailed Sparrow breeds from southern Maine just into North Carolina (Pea Island). Its populations are most dense in the marshes of Long Island south to the Delmarva Peninsula. The Saltmarsh Sharp-tailed Sparrow's range overlaps with its close relative, the Nelson's Sharp-tailed Sparrow, with which it may interbreed, from northeastern Massachusetts through the end of its range in southern Maine. This small sparrow winters coastally from Maryland south to the Atlantic mid-coast of Florida. It rarely occurs on Florida's Gulf Coast.
A legend for the range map to the right can be found here.
Population Status & Trends
Little data has been collected on this "new" maritime sparrow. Christmas Bird Counts from 1997 to 2005 record significant fluctuations. Wildlife managers infer current and future population declines based on significant habitat losses along the Eastern coastline. This sparrow is a "species of conservation concern" for the U. S. Fish and Wildlife Service, as well as in the states of Georgia, Maryland, New York, South Carolina, and Virginia.
Conservation Issues & Efforts
The Saltmarsh Sharp-tailed Sparrow's limited range and shrinking habitat concern conservationists. Several east coast states have lost 25 to 73% of their total wetlands between 1780 and 1980. Many of the Saltmarsh Sharp-tailed Sparrow's remaining coastal wetlands are in poor health. The 2005 National Coastal Condition Report II found poor habitat conditions from New England to Maine. One year later, the U.S. Department of the Interior reported a loss of over 28,000 acres of intertidal wetlands occurring from 1998 to 2004 across the country.
On top of habitat losses caused by commercial development, the Saltmarsh Sharp-tailed Sparrow is impacted by toxic environments and the invasion of exotic plant species. In 2006, significant levels of mercury were reported in the blood of Saltmarsh Sharp-tailed Sparrows breeding in Maine. Marshes invaded by plants like phragmites, ditched to lower water levels, or shrunk by developers become unsuitable for nesting, and may be abandoned by this small songbird. Extensive, healthy marshlands dominated by grasses are essential for the Saltmarsh Sharp-tailed Sparrow.
What You Can Do
Look for the Saltmarsh Sharp-tailed Sparrow by visiting the edges of marine grasslands. Be careful to avoid their fragile habitat. Use an approved access road, like the one provided by the Parker River Wildlife Refuge on Plum Island, east of Newburyport, Massachusetts.
Share your thoughts on wetland conservation with your elected representatives.
Become involved in local wetland restoration efforts. The Environmental Protection Agency offers programs, instructional materials, grants, and helpful links. Visit their " Wetland Restoration" website.
Take a break from winter, and join a Christmas Bird Count along the southeastern coast of the United States. Your observations will add to the knowledge of this "new" species.
For more actions you can take, including Audubon activities, please visit our resources page.
For More Information
References
Benoit, L.K.; Askins, R.A. "Impact of the spread of phragmites on the distribution of birds in Connecticut tidal marshes." Wetlands 19:1 (Mar 1999) 194-208.
Dahl, T.E. 2006. Status and Trends of Wetlands in the Conterminous United States 1998 to 2004. U.S. Department of the Interior; Fish and Wildlife Service, Washington, D.C. 112 pp.
Erwin, M.R., G.M. Sanders, and D.J. Prosser. "Lagoonal marsh morphology at selected northeastern Atlantic coast sites of significance to migratory waterbirds." Wetlands 24:4 (2004) 891-903.
Greenlaw, J. S. and J. D. Rising. 1994. Sharp-tailed Sparrow (Ammodramus caudacutus). In The Birds of North America, No. 112 (A. Poole and F. Gill, Eds.). Philadelphia: The Academy of Natural Sciences; Washington, D.C.: The American Ornithologists' Union.
Summers, Kevin, et al. National Coast Report. U. S. Environmental Protection Agency, Office of research and Development, Office of Water. December 2004.
Shriver W. G., D. C. Evers, T. P. Hodgman, B. J. MacCulloch, R. J. Taylor. "Mercury in Sharp-Tailed Sparrows Breeding in Coastal Wetlands." Environmental Bioindicators 1:2 (April-June 2006) p. 129-135. Only abstract available.
|
