Birds of the Upper Cumberland Region: Species Accounts

Henslow's Sparrow (Ammodramus henslowii)

Abundance: Very Uncommon (noted in at least 13 Regional counties, 6 in Kentucky and 7 in Tennessee).

Status: Summer Resident/Transient; increasing since early 2000s; photographs (see links below).

Regional High Count: 72 (8 July 2006; Campbell Farm, Cumberland County, Tennessee; Joseph E. Mast, Stephen J. Stedman unpubl. data; Next Highest: 22 (17 July 2004; Ano strip mines, Pulaski County, Kentucky; Roseanna M. Denton; Palmer-Ball and McNeeley 2004d).

Information on Records of First Occurrence in Each County: 

Kentucky

August 1949 (1) Clinton County (Burt L. Monroe; Mengel 1965).

6 July 1990 (1--singing) Metcalfe County (Brainard Palmer-Ball, Jr.).

12 June 1999 (2) Ano strip mines, Pulaski County (Roseanna M. Denton).

17 April 2002 (2 [number verified by observer]) Wayne County (Roseanna M. Denton; Busroe 2002c [cites 10 as the number of individuals present, but that number is incorrect).

6-9 May 2007 (1-2 singing) Charles Turner Rd., Barren County (Stephen J. Stedman, Barbara H. Stedman); but see also Out-of-season Records (below).

6 May 2008 (4 singing) Holmes Bend Rd. (3) and West Egypt Rd. (1), Adair County (Barbara H. Stedman unpubl. data), a Spring BirdBlitz record.

Tennessee

24 October 1998 (1) Warren County (Susan N. McWhirter; Fekel 1999a).

4 July 2004 (3--singing and seen) Heritage Marsh, White County (Stephen J. Stedman, Edmund K. LeGrand; Casteel 2004d; Stedman and LeGrand 2005); photo (9 July 2004, Carol D. Williams).

27 June 2006 (1--singing and seen) County House Rd., DeKalb County (Stephen J. Stedman, Carol D. Williams and unpubl. data); photo (30 June 2006, Carol D. Williams).

1 July 2006 (17--singing and seen) Campbell Farm, east of Mayland, Cumberland County (Stephen J. Stedman, Joseph E. Mast photo and unpubl. data).

12 May 2007 (2--singing) Walker Farm Rd., Monterey Lake, Putnam County (Barbara H. Stedman unpubl. data), a Spring Bird Count record.

26 April 2008 (1--singing and seen) Salt Lick Creek Rd., Jackson County (Stephen J. Stedman, Douglas A. Downs unpubl. data), a Spring BirdBlitz record.

23 May 2009 (1--singing) McDonald Rd., Overton County (Stephen J. Stedman unpubl. data).

Out-of-Season Records:

26 December 1963-2 January 1964 (4) Barren County, Kentucky (Russell Starr; Monroe et al. 1988), includes a CBC record.

Regional Extreme Dates:

    Spring: 27 March 2007 (1; Cumberland County, Tennessee; Joseph E. Mast unpubl. data).

    Fall: 30 October 2005 (1; Pulaski County, Kentucky; Roseanna M. Denton photo and unpubl. data), but see also Out-of-Season Records (above).

    Note: Spring arrival dates have fallen in mid-April in recent years, but insufficient data to be sure this usual. Based on even fewer data, fall departure usually complete by late October.  Some recent dates of spring arrival and fall departure in the Region follow:

Breeding: Confirmed (Recent); adults with food for young and juveniles were observed 17 July 2004 at the Ano strip mines, Pulaski County, Kentucky (Roseanna M. Denton); juveniles were observed at the Heritage Marsh, White County, Tennessee, 20 August 2004 (Stephen J. Stedman, Douglas A. Downs; Casteel 2004d); three juveniles were observed 8 July 2006 at the Campbell Farm, Cumberland County, Tennessee (Stephen J. Stedman, Joseph E. Mast unpubl. data).

Habitat: Fields that have lain fallow for several years and that harbor vegetation growing to a height of 40-80 cm; it is important that some standing dead vegetation from earlier years be a component of the vegetational structure of fields that harbor this species.  These fields may be fairly moist, as at the Heritage Marsh, White County, Tennessee, or fairly dry, as at the Campbell Farm, Cumberland, Tennessee, and the Ano strip mines, Pulaski Co., Kentucky.

YardWatch Results 2003 and 2004: No registrations.

Foray Results: Distribution and abundance based on UCR Foray data are mapped as follows:

• Clinton Countty Foray--12-14 June 2009--no data
• Jackson Countty Foray--29 May-1 June 2009--no data
• Pickett Countty Foray--22-25 May 2009--no data
• DeKalb County Foray--23-26 May 2008
• White County Foray--25-28 May 2007

Remarks: The Henslow's Sparrow colony at the Campbell Farm, Cumberland County, Tennessee, was briefly the largest in the Region, with the second-largest being the more stable colony at the Ano strip mines, Pulaski County, Kentucky; in 2009 the entire population on the Campbell Farm was absent, presumably as a result of discing of the formerly fallow fields at that site, and burning at the Ano strip mines reduced the number of Henslow's there.  Since its discovery the colony at the Bridgestone/Firestone Centennial Wilderness, White County, Tennessee, has been relatively stable at 10-25 singing males.

Counties with Observations (boldfaced):

To see a map (Figure 1) displaying the data in the table above, click on the boldfaced word in this sentence.

Literature Cited