Northern Prairie Wildlife Research Center
Breeding Range. (Fig. 170). Common throughout the Agassiz Lake Plain and Prairie Pothole Regions; fairly common in the Turtle Mountains, on the Coteau Slope, and in the southwestern portion of the Missouri Slope (within Hettinger, Adams, Slope, and Bowman Counties); uncommon elsewhere on the Missouri Slope and Little Missouri Slope.
Breeding Habitat. Natural habitats utilized include tall-grass prairie, ungrazed and lightly grazed mixed-grass prairie, and wet-meadow zones that border prairie ponds and lakes and intermittent streams. Characteristic plant species in tall-grass prairie include big bluestem, switchgrass, slender wheatgrass, and Kentucky bluegrass. The more common species in mixed-grass prairie include needle-and-thread, green needlegrass, prairie junegrass, western wheatgrass, blue grama, and little bluestem. Prevalent wet-meadow species are prairie cordgrass, fowl bluegrass, northern reedgrass, wild barley, saltgrass, alkaligrass, Baltic rush, and a variety of sedges (Carex spp.).
Certain types of disturbance habitats created by man also are extensively used by this species. These include alfalfa and brome hayfields, weedy crop fields and stubble, and retired cropland. The more common established plant species of retired cropland are intermediate wheatgrass, tall wheatgrass, crested wheatgrass, smooth brome, and sweetclover. Some of the common field weeds are quackgrass, sow-thistle, field mustard, common evening primrose, false ragweed, common pigweed, and prairie rose.
In the Southwestern Slope Region, the habitats occupied by this species are quite localized, being largely restricted to moist situations occurring in lowland areas. Elsewhere in the state, the appropriate habitats are much more extensively distributed.
Nesting. Breeding season: Late May to late July; peak, early June to mid-July. Extreme egg dates (10 nests): May 27 [1934] in Bottineau County (Philipp 1936) to July 9 [1965] in Stutsman County (RES). A nest with four small young was recorded on June 14 [1915] in Richland County (H. H. Sheldon). All nests found were situated on the ground in fairly dense herbaceous cover.
Indicated clutch size (5 nests): 4 to 6 eggs; mean, 5 eggs.
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| Figure 170. Breeding Range of Savannah Sparrow. |
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U.S. Department of the Interior |
U.S. Geological Survey
URL: http://www.npwrc.usgs.gov/resource/birds/bbofnd/species/5420.htm
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