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Platte River Status: An uncommon migrant and rare and local summer resident. Tout (1947) recorded swamp sparrows once in spring and once in fall migration in Lincoln County. Rosche (1979) reported swamp sparrow as a summer resident in the Clear Creek marshes near Lewellen in Keith and Garden counties.

Breeding Range: During the nesting season, swamp sparrow is restricted exclusively to the Platte River Valley physiographic region, where it is a rare and highly localized summer resident.

Breeding Population: Our 1979-80 population surveys revealed an estimated breeding population of 1,080 breeding pairs in the study area.

Habitat: We found a mean breeding density of 7.0 pairs/km² in wetlands. Stewart (1975) described swamp sparrow nesting habitat in North Dakota as alkaline bogs supporting stands of cattail or common reed along with scattered water-tolerant shrubs such as willow.

Effect of Habitat Alteration: Because of the low number of birds in the breeding population at the extreme western limit of the species breeding range, we believe that habitat alteration has had no profound impact on this species.

Nesting Data: Collister (1948) reported a swamp sparrow in a wet area at the confluence of the North Platte and South Platte rivers on 19 June 1948. The bird appeared very agitated by Collister's presence, and she speculated that bird had nested. Egg dates in Minnesota range from 18 May to 17 June (Johnsgard 1979).