Montana Field Guide

Le Conte's Sparrow - Ammodramus leconteii

Le Conte's Sparrows are a small sparrow, usually 4 1/2 to 5 1/2 inches in length. The sexes are very similar in appearance. The face, throat, breast and superciliary are distinctly buffy or ochre in color. The belly is white. Malar stripes are weak or absent and streaking on the breast is also absent, although there is some streaking of the flanks. The auricular patch is a pale gray color. The nape is lavender to pinkish and has fine chestnut streakings (Lowther 1996). The dark crown is bisected by a white stripe (Walkinshaw 1968). The tail is as long as the wing and the tail feathers are very narrow and pointed. The wings are round and short with an edge of white present (Lowther 1996). Juvenile Le Conte's Sparrows are relatively similar to adults with buff on the face, throat and breast. However, this buff is usually duller. The crown stripe is buffy colored. The nape is unstreaked and also buffy. The breast has fine streaking (Lowther 1996).

Le Conte's Sparrows coexist with Nelson's Sharp-tailed Sparrows, Baird's Sparrows (A. bairdii), and Grasshopper Sparrows (A. savannarum) and identification can be challenging. Nelson's Sharp-tailed Sparrows have a gray unstreaked nape, a prominent auricular patch and no crown stripe. Baird's Sparrows have a buff crown stripe extending to the nape, a distinctively dark malar stripe and streaks across the breast. Grasshopper Sparrows have yellow lores and are buffier and duller on the face extending to the underparts and belly. The song of the Le Conte's Sparrow is also diagnostic. This extremely short burst of song usually lasts less than 1 second and is characterized as a very insect-like tzeek-tzzzz tick (Oberholser 1974).

Montana Range

Little is known about migration patterns of Le Conte's Sparrows in Montana. Very few records exist for Le Conte's during migration, with the majority coming during fall. They have been observed during migration in only 5 quarter-latilongs (Montana Bird Distribution 2003). Interestingly, these few observations have come from areas of higher human population: Great Falls in May, Glacier National Park in June, Billings in September, Helena in October and Missoula in December.

Le Conte's Sparrows are short-distance migrants, remaining within North America during their migratory cycle. They apparently migrate at night singly or widely spaced (Lowther 1996). Fall migration begins in September and birds usually arrive at wintering locations in November (Murray 1969). The majority of species migrates through the Great Plains east to the Mississippi Valley. Records from California and the east coast are uncommon and considered vagrant young birds. Le Conte's Sparrows migrate north to the breeding areas usually in March to April (Terres 1980).

Montana is at the periphery of the Le Conte's Sparrow's range. A small disjunct area of their breeding range does occur in the northwest corner of the state (Davis 1952). Breeding records from extreme northeastern Montana show this species is present and possibly expanding its known range westward from the eastern half of North Dakota. Habitat appears to be quite limited in Montana, indicated by the very few documented breeding occurrences. The areas in northwest Montana where Le Conte's Sparrows have bred are wet meadows within peatlands, often with a strong sedge (Carex) component. Several species of Carex have been documented in Le Conte's habitat, including Carex aquatilis (water sedge), C. interior (inland sedge), C. sartwellii (Sartwell's sedge), and C. nebrascensis (Nebraska sedge). This habitat type is similar to the wet meadow bog and sedge meadow habitats Le Conte's Sparrows have been known to use in Alberta (Semenchuk 1992). Davis (1952) argues this northwestern Montana population has possibility spread south from northern Alberta.

Le Conte's Sparrows have also been found in a few other habitat types. Subirrigated meadowland with short stands of grasses is one habitat where the species has been documented breeding (Waldt 1986). The elusiveness of Le Conte's Sparrows in the breeding habitat may account for the limited knowledge regarding them.

Food habits studies have not occurred in the state. Information from studies in other areas of the species' range indicate that Le Conte's Sparrows eat mainly seeds in winter, and insects and spiders in summer. This species is a ground forager (Terres 1980).

No ecological information is available in Montana. Information from other areas of the species' range state the rough estimates of breeding territory sizes in North Dakota and Minnesota were 0.0009 to 0.004 hectares (Murray 1969, Cooper 1984).

Little information is available regarding LeConte's Sparrow reproduction in Montana. Potential breeding locations are often inaccessible and difficult to survey. Le Conte's Sparrow nests have been located in Montana during July (Davis 1952), including a nest with eggs seen in Glacier National Park on July 15, 1951 (Davis 1961). Egg dates are probably similar to those in Saskatchewan and Manitoba: June 4 to 21, and Alberta: as early as June 6 (Johnsgard 1986). Information from other portions of their range found that eggs are laid from late May to early July with a clutch size of 3 to 5 (usually 4). Incubation, by the female, lasts 11 to 13 days. The female exclusively tends the young at first; the male helps after a short period of time.

No known active management is ongoing for Le Conte's Sparrows in the state. Conservation Reserve Program practices may provide large blocks of suitable habitat for this species in northeastern Montana.