Fewer Florida Grasshopper Sparrows are Home on the Range

The next few years will be crucial for the Florida grasshopper sparrow, a little-known endangered bird whose numbers have inexplicably declined. Point count surveys in 2011 detected only 90 singing males, down from 233 counted just three years earlier. Even accounting for imperfect detection of this cryptic sparrow and including remnant populations on private lands, fewer than 500 individuals may remain. Scientists and land managers are unsure of the cause of the decline. According to biologist Michael Delany of the FWC’s Fish and Wildlife Research Institute, prairies on public lands managed for the sparrow appear the same as they were 30 years ago, when the bird seemed to be thriving.

The Florida grasshopper sparrow is one of four recognized subspecies of grasshopper sparrow in the United States. During the breeding season, about 300 miles separates the Florida subspecies from grasshopper sparrows in Georgia.

Grasshopper sparrows are small, short-tailed birds about 5 inches long. Feathers at the bend of the wing are bright yellow, and a small patch of orange appears in front of the eyes. A white stripe marks the top of the head. Feathers on the back are a richly mottled dark brown, black, and gray. The Florida subspecies is much darker in feather coloration than other grasshopper sparrows. The grasshopper sparrow gets its name from its “buzzy” song, which sounds like a grasshopper.

Biologists monitor Florida grasshopper sparrows each year during the April-June breeding season at an array of survey stations on public lands where populations exist. They listen for singing males establishing territories and look for Florida grasshopper sparrows perched on shrubs and barbed-wire fences.

Florida's dry prairies are extensive treeless areas dominated by grass and low shrubs. Only about 19% of this habitat remains. The future management of dry prairie will have important consequences for the conservation of the Florida grasshopper sparrow.

Restricted to the south-central prairie region of the state, the Florida grasshopper sparrow is a habitat specialist requiring large areas of native grassland. Records from the early 1900s indicate the sparrow was once more abundant and widespread in distribution within the Kissimmee River basin. Because of a suspected population decline, the state of Florida classified the Florida grasshopper sparrow as endangered in 1978. Much of the bird’s native prairie habitat has been converted to improved cattle pasture and other agricultural uses, eliminating the subspecies from some of its former range. Further reduction in distribution and abundance led the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to list it as endangered in 1986.

Florida grasshopper sparrows can be seen during the breeding season at Three Lakes Wildlife Management Area in Osceola County and at Kissimmee Prairie Preserve State Park in Okeechobee County. The conservation of the Florida grasshopper sparrow is a management priority on these lands and at Avon Park Air Force Range in Highlands and Polk counties. Prescribed fire is applied to maintain dry prairie in an open, early successional stage for this ground-dwelling bird, and encroaching woody vegetation is removed to preserve the large grasslands the sparrow requires.

The rate of the sparrow’s decline is cause for concern, and recovery efforts now are especially important. Researchers and managers will use future surveys to monitor populations and evaluate management actions.

Additional Information
Audio - songs of the Florida grasshopper sparrow