This week I’m sharing some pictures of a Le Conte’s Sparrow, one of my favourites. The only time I have seen them in the NWT (up until last week) was in Fort Smith. This year I spotted them near the Yellowknife airport and had a chance to spend a bit of time with this one in particular.
The LeConte’s sparrow is elusive and difficult to get out into the open. It’s preferred habitat is dense wet meadows so rubber boots are an essential piece of equipment if you want to go in search of one.
If you do have a chance to see one, it is a bird you won’t likely forget. It has deep-yellow orange face and a pale yellow-orange hue with black streaking on it’s back and a white belly. The bill is grey but can look bluish against the orange tint of its face.
The largest threat to LeConte’s Sparrow populations in the future is habitat degradation. Since LeConte’s Sparrow requires areas with tall grasses and little woody vegetation, periodic disturbances like fire or haying are necessary to arrest succession and prevent encroachment of woody plants. There are no management strategies in place for LeConte’s Sparrow specifically, but any grassland protection combined with appropriate management will likely benefit this species.*
*Cornell Lab of Ornithology