Wildlife Spotlight: Bachman's Sparrow
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© Peter May
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One of the most beautiful sounds of the southern pinelands is the
song of the Bachman's sparrow. From exposed perches, the male sings its
long, varied song, sometimes described as "h-e-e-e-e-re kitty kitty
kitty kitty." The song is one of the best ways to locate this secretive
sparrow whose grayish-brown plumage helps it blend into the grass and
saw palmetto understory of Florida’s open pine woods.
Bachman's sparrows breed from the central mid-western states south to
Oklahoma, Texas, and Florida. The population shifts to the southern
parts of this range from September to April. Between April and July,
females build well-concealed, cup-shaped nests of woven grasses on or
near the ground. Bachman’s sparrows eat grasshoppers, crickets, spiders
and other invertebrates, and seeds from pines, grasses and fruits.
In Florida, look and listen for Bachman’s sparrows in appropriate
habitat as far south as Lake Okeechobee. Both sexes have a grayish-brown
back streaked with black, a buffy breast and whitish belly. The male’s
song usually begins with a simple, clear whistle, followed by a musical
trill. Male birds sing most actively from March through June each year.
The loss of native pine grasslands and the exclusion of fire have
caused a decline in the population of Bachman’s sparrows throughout the
southeast.
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