Bachman's Sparrow Life History

Habitat

Bachman's Sparrows are residents of open pine woodlands with wiregrass and saw palmetto in the understory. They also occur in grassy areas, oak-palmetto scrub, powerline cuts, and clearcuts with little to no shrubs in the understory. Bachman's Sparrows tend to abandon clearcuts older than 7 years and forest patches that haven't burned in 4 or more years.

Food

Bachman's Sparrows forage on the ground for seeds, primarily grass seeds, and insects.

Nesting

Nest Placement

Bachman's Sparrows nest on the ground typically at the base of a small shrub, pine seedling, or a clump of grass. Vegetation often covers the nest from above, such that the nest looks domed. On rare occasions they also nest up to an inch and a half above the ground in a clump of grass or a flowering plant.

Nest Description

The female clears a spot of ground and digs a small scrape. She then starts collecting grasses, rootlets, and other plant material, weaving it all together to form a cup-shaped nest. Females frequently incorporate vegetation above the nest into the nest cup to form a dome over the nest.

Nesting Facts

Behavior

Bachman's Sparrows walk and hop along the ground foraging for seeds and insects. It seems at most times that they would rather run than fly. When they do fly, they pump their tail and have a rather weak and labored-looking flight. Males defend their territories against other males with quivered wings, bouncing up and down, and shifting side to side. Pairs form monogamous bonds and typically spend the year in pairs or small family groups.

Conservation

The 2025 State of the Birds report lists Bachman's Sparrow as a Red Alert Tipping Point species, meaning that it has lost more than 50% of its population in the past 50 years, has a perilously low population, and has shown steep declining trends. Bachman's Sparrow is detected infrequently on the North American Breeding Bird Survey, but the BBS estimates this species declined by 1.7% per year between 1966 and 2023, resulting in a cumulative decline of 62% over that period. Partners in Flight estimates a global breeding population of 170,000 individuals and rates the species a 16 out of 20 on the Continental Concern Score.

Historically the pine woodlands naturally burned every 3–5 years, which helped maintain the open parklike understory that supports Bachman's Sparrows as well as the endangered Red-cockaded Woodpecker. When fire is excluded from pine woodlands for more than 3 to 5 years the understory becomes too dense and shrubby for Bachman's Sparrows. Pulpwood production and management, as is common in the southeastern U.S., uses shorter harvest timelines and results in dense stands of small trees instead of the large, open-grown pines that Bachman’s Sparrows use. Conservation efforts that use prescribed burning every 2–3 years have proven successful at increasing the number of Bachman's Sparrows. Mechanical thinning and herbicide treatments also create habitat conditions favored by Bachman's Sparrows.

Credits

Dunne, P. (2006). Pete Dunne’s essential field guide companion. Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, New York, USA.

Dunning, J. B., P. Pyle, and M. A. Patten (2018). Bachman’s Sparrow (Peucaea aestivalis), version 3.1. In The Birds of North America (P. G. Rodewald, Editor). Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Ithaca, NY, USA.

Lutmerding, J. A., and A. S. Love (2017). Longevity records of North American birds. Version 2017.1. Patuxent Wildlife Research Center, Bird Banding Laboratory, Laurel, MD, USA.

Partners in Flight (2017). Avian Conservation Assessment Database. 2017.

Rising, J. D. (1996). A Guide to the Identification and Natural History of the Sparrows of the United States and Canada. Academic Press, NY, USA.

Sibley, D. A. (2014). The Sibley Guide to Birds, second edition. Alfred A. Knopf, New York, NY, USA.

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