Original description: Fringilla grammaca Say 1823
Taxonomic history in AOU/AOS Check-list
AOU 1 (1886): Lark Sparrow, Chondestes grammacus; Western Lark Sparrow, Chondestes grammacus strigatus
AOU 2 (1895): Lark Sparrow, Chondestes grammacus; Western Lark Sparrow, Chondestes grammacus strigatus
AOU 3 (1910): Lark Sparrow, Chondestes grammacus grammacus; Western Lark Sparrow, Chondestes grammacus strigatus
AOU 4 (1931): Eastern Lark Sparrow, Chondestes grammacus grammacus; Western Lark Sparrow, Chondestes grammacus strigatus
AOU 5 (1957): Lark Sparrow, Chondestes grammacus grammacus, Chondestes grammacus strigatus
AOU 6 (1983): Lark Sparrow, Chondestes grammacus
AOU 7 (1998): Lark Sparrow, Chondestes grammacus
IUCN Conservation Status: Of least concern
Behavior: Thomas Say’s first experience on the Missouri was not entirely typical: while Lark Sparrows spend most of their time feeding on the ground, they are far from unwilling to perch in tree tops. Alert but not shy, they often allow close approach before flushing in strong, swooping flight to high perches out of the intruder’s reach. Pressed further, they fly up to some hundreds of yards, at some height above the ground, before settling into vegetation or onto open ground.
Feeding birds shuffle deliberately, lark-like, on the ground in loose flocks of a dozen or more, picking and probing beneath and around vegetation for seeds and insects; migrants may drop in to forage beneath bird feeders amply stocked with white millet. The long tail is usually held parallel to the ground and tightly closed, but in the excitement of discovering an especially appealing morsel, the birds may grow visibly frenzied, each “running after its fellows with lowered head, drooping wings, and expanded tail” revealing the short whitish crescent across the primary bases and the elegant white tips and edges of the tail.
Males sing in spring and early summer, and occasionally at other times of year, from conspicuous perches atop bushes, trees, fence posts, and telephone poles; feeding birds occasionally pause to sing from the ground. The tail is kept closed and held down during singing from a perch. Singing in flight is infrequent; there does not appear to be a stereotyped song flight, but rather a song commenced on a perch is briefly continued when the bird changes position.
Voice: Say and Bonaparte explained the English name “Lark Sparrow” in part by reference to the species’ loud and varied song. Low-pitched and rich, the song recalls to many observers’ ears less any of the familiar larks than a lazy crossbill or a canary at half speed, alternating tenor trills and baritone gulps with soprano chips and chirps. In the nineteenth century, the Lark Sparrow was a greatly desired cage bird in some regions, a pair of young birds fetching as much as four dollars in Sacramento in the 1860s. Robert Ridgway, who knew the sparrow both from his childhood in Illinois and his western travels as a young man, claimed
“that the delightful song of this bird has no parallel among the North American Fringillidae… it is pre-eminently superior to that of all the other members of this family…. in vigor and continuity unsurpassed, if not unequalled, by any other North American species.”
Ridgway’s enthusiasm is justified, if his conclusion not inarguable. The song usually begins with a short flatulent introductory note, followed by a series of loose trills, buzzing grunts, and high-pitched squeaks in a variable sequence; the slow tempo, with long pauses between phrases, gives it a distinctively conversational, even disjointed quality, almost mimid-like at times. It is not clear whether differences in the sequence of phrases are geographic or individual.
The most familiar call note, given by perched birds and in flight, is a very short, sharp, high-pitched tst, with an abrupt attack and virtually no audible decay; often heard from high overhead, this call can bring to mind a wood warbler or an insect until the distinctive whitish underparts and white tail of the Lark Sparrow is seen.
Detailed description and measurements drawn from standard reference works
Adult Chondestes grammacus grammacus: Central pair of tail feathers dusky with narrow whitish edges; other tail feathers black with white tips increasing in length from inner to outermost pair. White tip on second rectrix nearly or entirely restricted to inner web; on third pair, white tip extends slightly onto outer web as well. On fourth, fifth, and sixth (the outermost) rectrices, white extends evenly across both webs, with slight intrusion of black along feather shaft at top of white area. Outer web of outermost rectrix entirely white.
Upper tail coverts, rump, back, and scapulars medium-pale brownish gray; back and scapulars with sparse blackish streaks. Primaries dull dusky gray with very narrow whitish gray edges and tips; on primaries eight to five or four, white edge of outer web widens towards base to form long, narrow whitish rectangle at base of feather. Secondaries dull dusky gray with paler, more brownish and faint pale brownish white tips; feather shafts whitish towards base. Tertials dusky with brownish white edges on outer web. Greater coverts dull dusky gray on inner web, darker grayish on outer web, with broad whitish edges and tips forming conspicuous wing bar; median coverts dull dusky gray on inner web, largely whitish on outer web and tip, forming fairly conspicuous wing bar. Lesser coverts dull dusky gray with variable darker mottling. Marginal coverts of under wing white. Alula with blackish shaft streak and white edge on outer web. Nape unstreaked gray-brown.
Under tail coverts and vent whitish; belly and breast white, upper breast with buffier tinge. Flanks and sides of breast tinged buffy-gray. Blackish spot or splotch on center of breast. Throat white, separated from broad white jaw stripe by strong black lateral throat stripe.
Crown rusty brown with broad pale brownish or grayish median stripe, whiter towards bill base; very narrow black lateral stripe separates rusty crown from broad silvery supercilium, which is whiter above lore. Fine black eye line extends across gray lore and well back towards nape, breaking faint and narrow whitish eye ring. Bright rusty brown ear coverts, divided from jaw stripe by fine black whisker and marked at rear by small vertical grayish spot. Large whitish crescent below eye intrudes into ear coverts.
Long tarsus and toes pink. Bill swollen at base of lower mandible; upper mandible dark bluish gray with blackish tip, lower paler bluish.
Juvenile Chondestes grammacus grammacus: Central pair of tail feathers dusky with narrow whitish edges; other tail feathers black with white tips increasing in length from inner to outermost pair. White tip on second rectrix nearly or entirely restricted to inner web; on third pair, white tip extends slightly onto outer web as well. On fourth, fifth, and sixth (the outermost) rectrices, white extends evenly across both webs, with slight intrusion of black along feather shaft at top of white area. Outer web of outermost rectrix entirely white.
Upper tail coverts, rump, back, and scapulars medium-pale brownish gray; back and scapulars with scattered heavy blackish streaks. Primaries dull dusky gray with very narrow whitish gray edges and tips; on primaries eight to five or four, white edge of outer web widens towards base to form long, narrow whitish rectangle at base of feather. Secondaries dull dusky gray with paler, more brownish and faint pale brownish white tips; feather shafts whitish towards base. Tertials dusky with brownish white edges on outer web. Greater coverts dull dusky gray on inner web, darker grayish on outer web, with broad whitish edges and tips forming conspicuous wing bar; median coverts dull dusky gray on inner web, largely whitish on outer web and tip, forming fairly conspicuous wing bar. Lesser coverts dull dusky gray with variable darker mottling. Marginal coverts of under wing white. Alula with blackish shaft streak and whitish edge on outer web. Nape lightly streaked or unstreaked gray-brown.
Under tail coverts, vent, belly, and breast whitish with buff tinge and variably heavy streaking, especially on buffy-gray flanks and across breast. Throat whitish, separated from whitish jaw stripe by narrow blackish lateral throat stripe.
Crown brown with broad paler brownish median stripe, whiter towards bill base; very narrow black lateral stripe separates brown of crown from broad gray supercilium, which is whiter above lore. Fine black eye line extends across dull gray lore and well back towards nape, breaking faint and narrow whitish eye ring. Brown ear coverts, divided from jaw stripe by irregular fine black whisker and marked at rear by small vertical grayish spot. Large dull whitish crescent below eye intrudes into brown of ear coverts.
Long tarsus and toes grayish pink. Bill swollen at base of lower mandible; upper mandible bluish gray with blackish tip, lower paler.
Length 147-163 mm (5.8-6.4 inches)
Wing 81-94 mm (3.2-3.7 inches)
Tail 65-78 mm (2.6-3.1 inches)
W:T 1.24
Mass 30 g
