Florida Grasshopper Sparrow (Ammodramus savannarum floridanus)
(Audubon Magazine)
The Most Endangered Bird in the Continental U.S.
The Fight to Save the Florida Grasshopper Sparrow Inspires All Who Love Wildlife
There are probably fewer than 200 Florida grasshopper sparrows left, and as of this writing they’re restricted to the state park and the nearby Three Lakes Wildlife Management Area. The population at Avon Park Air Force Range, where researchers had counted 130 singing males 14 years ago, apparently winked out in 2012. Counts of singing males at the state park dropped from 150 in 2002 to 14 in 2012 and at Three Lakes Wildlife Management Area from 150 in 2008 to 60 in 2012. It’s difficult to catch or even inventory the females because they are shy, songless, and indistinguishable from the males unless they’re in hand during the breeding season, when one can see that they lack an engorged “cloacal protuberance” (bird version of a penis).
Read more at Audubon Magazine
Audubon Florida: Florida Grasshopper Sparrow
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