Written by: D. Dobkin, S. Granholm
Reviewed by: L. Mewaldt
Edited by: R. Duke

DISTRIBUTION, ABUNDANCE, AND SEASONALITY

     Breeds commonly east of Cascade-Sierra Nevada crest and along entire California coast,
though very locally on southern coast.  Occurs primarily in grassland, saline emergent
wetland, and wet meadow habitats.  Coastal breeders restricted to saline emergent wetlands
and, in northern California, to moist grasslands within the fog belt.  In the interior, breeding
occurs mostly in valleys, in moist grasslands and meadows.  Montane valleys are occupied
locally, as are hay fields.  Breeds locally on western slope of Cascade Range, in upper Kern
Basin, Kern Co., and at Baldwin Lake in San Bernardino Mts. Mostly withdraws from Great
Basin in winter; common then in most other foothill and lowland areas throughout the state.
At Salton Sea, winters uncommonly in desert riparian habitat, primarily in saltcedar scrub at
river mouths.  East of Sierra Nevada, winters locally north through Owens Valley.  Belding's
savannah sparrow, P. s. beldingi, lives year-round in scattered southern coastal wetlands
(Grinnell and Miller 1944, McCaskie et al. 1979, Garrett and Dunn 1981).

SPECIFIC HABITAT REQUIREMENTS

   Feeding:    Eats mostly grass and other seeds, insects, snails, and spiders.  Invertebrates
predominate in breeding season, seeds are more important remainder of year.  Scratches
and gleans on ground, and picks food directly from low plants (Bent 1968).

   Cover:    Cover provided mostly by herbage in grasslands, wet meadows, salicornia
wetlands, and by associated scattered shrubs and rocks.  Requires dense ground cover in
breeding season.  In winter, seeks similar cover in a variety of moist and dry grasslands,
croplands, and in low vegetation along beaches and shorelines.

   Reproduction:    Nests in a hollow on ground; usually concealed by overhanging vegetation.
Builds cup nest of grasses, sedges, salicornia, with an inner lining of fine grasses, rootlets,
and hairs (Harrison 1978).

   Water:    Observed to bathe and drink (Norris 1960, Bartholomew and Cade 1963), but can
survive on a diet of seeds without drinking water (Bartholomew 1972).

   Pattern:    Breeds mostly in dense, moist grasslands, wet meadows, and salicornia
wetlands, with or without scattered shrubs or clumps of tall herbs.  At least in interior, ground
cover mostly less than 10 cm (4 in) high.  In winter, occupies moist and dry grasslands, but
prefers dense, short ground cover; also occurs in low vegetation in croplands and along
beaches and shorelines.

SPECIES LIFE HISTORY

  Activity Patterns:    Yearlong, diurnal activity.

   Seasonal Movements/Migration:    Wintering populations arrive from August to October,
depending upon the subspecies, and depart in April or May.  Montane breeding populations
mostly move downslope to winter.

   Home Range:    In Georgia, Norris (1960) estimated a short-term winter home range at 3.2
ha (8ac).  Winter density averaged 10-12 individuals per ha (4-5 per ac) and varied up to 74
per ha (30 per ac).

   Territory:    In Michigan pasture and fallow farmland, Potter (1972) recorded 62 territories
averaging 0.11 ha (0.26 ac) and varying from 0.01 to 0.29 ha (0.03 to 0.71 ac); 27 territories
without nests averaged 0.08 ha (0.21 ac), and 35 territories with nests averaged 0.12 ha (0.30
ac).  In Wisconsin, Wiens (1969) reported 91 territories averaging 0.69 ha (1.7 ac) and
varying from 0.16 to 1.74 ha (0.4 to 4.3 ac).  On beach dunes in Nova Scotia, Welsh (1975)
reported 13 territories averaging 0.17 ha (0.43 ac) and varying from 0.09 to 0.33 ha (0.23 to
0.81 ac).

   Reproduction:    Breeds from April into July, with a peak in May and June.  Lays 2-6 eggs,
usually 4 or 5 per clutch; often double-brooded.  Incubation 10-13 days; altricial young fledge
in 7-14 days.  Incubation and brooding mostly by female (Bent 1968, Harrison 1978, Ehrlich et
al. 1988).

   Niche:    Subject to predation by hawks, snakes, and small mammals.  May be semicolonial,
polygynous, roost in small groups on ground, or form small flocks in winter, especially in
saline emergent wetland (Ehrlich et al. 1988).

   Comments:    Belding's savannah sparrow, P. s. beldingi, frequents pickleweed in a few
scattered saline emergent wetlands from Santa Barbara Co. south.  Only a few thousand
individuals remain, but numbers may stabilize if these restricted and vulnerable habitat
remnants are protected (California Department of Fish and Game 1989).  P. s. rostratus, the
large-billed savannah sparrow, a winter visitant to saline emergent wetland at Salton Sea and
southern coast, is a California Species of Special Concern (Grinnell and Miller 1944).

REFERENCES

Bartholomew, G. A.  1972.  The water economy of seed-eating birds that survive without
     drinking.  Proc. Int. Ornithol. Congr.  15:237-254.
Bartholomew, G. A., and T. J. Cade.  1963.  The water economy of land birds.  Auk 80:504-
     539.
Bent, A. C. (O. L. Austin, Jr., ed.).  1968.  Life histories of North American cardinals,
     grosbeaks, buntings, towhees, finches, sparrows, and allies. 3 Parts.  U.S. Natl. Mus.
     Bull. 237.  1889pp.
California Department of Fish and Game.  1989.  1988 annual report on the status of
     California's state listed threatened and endangered plants and animals.  Sacramento.
     129pp.
Ehrlich, P. R., D. S. Dobkin, and D. Wheye. 1988.  The birder's handbook.  Simon and
     Schuster, New York.  785pp.
Garrett, K., and J.  Dunn.  1981.  Birds of southern California.  Los Angeles Audubon Soc.
     408pp.
Grinnell, J., and A. H. Miller.  1944.  The distribution of the birds of California.  Pac. Coast
     Avifauna No. 27.  608pp.
Harrison, C.  1978.  A field guide to the nests, eggs and nestlings of North American birds.
     W. Collins Sons and Co., Cleveland, OH.  416pp.
McCaskie, G., P. De Benedictis, R. Erickson, and J. Morlan.  1979.  Birds of northern
     California, an annotated field list.  2nd ed. Golden Gate Audubon Soc., Berkeley.  84pp.
Norris, R. A.  1960.  Density, racial composition, sociality, and selective predation in
     nonbreeding population of savannah sparrows.  Bird-Banding  31:173-216.
Potter, P. E.  1972.  Territorial behavior in savannah sparrows in southeastern Michigan.
     Wilson Bull.  84:48-59.
Welsh, D. A.  1975.  Savannah sparrow breeding and territoriality on a Nova Scotia dune
     beach.  Auk  92:235-251.
Wiens, J. A.  1969.  An approach to the study of ecological relationships among grassland
     birds.  Ornithol. Monogr. No. 8.  93pp.
 
Compiled from information from California Department of Fish and Game - California Interagency Wildlife Task Group