Overview
The genus Ammodramus is a group of in the family Emberizidae. Ammodramus is Latin for "Sand Runner." Typical of these thick grass and ground loving sparrows.
These birds are relatively small, with large bills, flat heads and short tails. They are usually found in grasslands or marshes and are often fairly inconspicuous. Most of their songs are insect-like.
Many of these bird species have declined in numbers due to habitat loss.
The full list of species is:
- Seaside Sparrow, Ammodramus maritimus
- Dusky Seaside Sparrow, Ammodramus maritimus nigrescens (extinct, 1987)
- Cape Sable Seaside Sparrow, Ammodramus maritimus mirabilis
- Nelson's Sparrow, Ammodramus nelsoni
- Saltmarsh Sparrow, Ammodramus caudacutus
- Le Conte's Sparrow, Ammodramus leconteii
- Henslow's Sparrow, Ammodramus henslowii
- Baird's Sparrow, Ammodramus bairdii
- Grasshopper Sparrow, Ammodramus savannarum
- Grassland Sparrow, Ammodramus humeralis
- Yellow-browed Sparrow, Ammodramus aurifrons
The fossil Ammodramus hatcheri (Late Miocene of Kansas, USA) was formerly placed in genus Palaeospiza or Palaeostruthus. The former may not be a passeriform at all, while the latter was eventually synonymized with Ammodramus as A. hatcheri scarcely differs from the living species.
Photos
Taxonomy
- Domain: Eukaryota
Whittaker & Margulis,1978 - eukaryotes
- Kingdom: Animalia
Linnaeus, 1758 - animals
- Subkingdom: Bilateria
(Hatschek, 1888) Cavalier-Smith, 1983 - bilaterians
- Branch: Deuterostomia
Grobben, 1908 - Deuterostomes
- Infrakingdom: Chordonia
(Haeckel, 1874) Cavalier-Smith, 1998
- Phylum: Chordata
Bateson, 1885 - Chordates
- Subphylum: Vertebrata
Cuvier, 1812 - Vertebrates
- Infraphylum: Gnathostomata
Auct. - Jawed Vertebrates
- Superclass: Tetrapoda
Goodrich, 1930 - Tetrapods
- Class: Aves
Linnaeus, 1758 - Birds
- Subclass: Neornithes
Gadow, 1893
- Infraclass: Neoaves
- Superorder: Passerimorphae
- Order: Passeriformes
C. Linnaeus, 1758 - Perching Birds
- Suborder: Passeri
- Parvorder: Passerida
- Superfamily: Passeroidea
- Family: Fringillidae
- Buntings, Finches
- Subfamily: Emberizinae
- Tribe: Emberizini
- Genus: Ammodramus (Audubon, 1829) - Grassland Sparrows
- Tribe: Emberizini
- Subfamily: Emberizinae
- Family: Fringillidae
- Buntings, Finches
- Superfamily: Passeroidea
- Parvorder: Passerida
- Suborder: Passeri
- Order: Passeriformes
C. Linnaeus, 1758 - Perching Birds
- Superorder: Passerimorphae
- Infraclass: Neoaves
- Subclass: Neornithes
Gadow, 1893
- Class: Aves
Linnaeus, 1758 - Birds
- Superclass: Tetrapoda
Goodrich, 1930 - Tetrapods
- Infraphylum: Gnathostomata
Auct. - Jawed Vertebrates
- Subphylum: Vertebrata
Cuvier, 1812 - Vertebrates
- Phylum: Chordata
Bateson, 1885 - Chordates
- Infrakingdom: Chordonia
(Haeckel, 1874) Cavalier-Smith, 1998
- Branch: Deuterostomia
Grobben, 1908 - Deuterostomes
- Subkingdom: Bilateria
(Hatschek, 1888) Cavalier-Smith, 1983 - bilaterians
- Kingdom: Animalia
Linnaeus, 1758 - animals
The Genus Ammodramus is further organized into finer groupings including:
- Species: ZipcodeZoo has pages for 63 species and subspecies in the Genus Ammodramus: A. aurifrons (Yellow-Browed Sparrow) · A. aurifrons aurifrons (Yellow-Browed Sparrow) · A. baileyi (Baird's Sparrow) · A. bairdii (Baird's Sparrow) · A. beldingi · A. caudacutus (Saltmarsh Sharp-Tailed Sparrow) · A. caudacutus caudacutus (Saltmarsh Sharp-Tailed Sparrow) · A. caudacutus diversus · A. caudacutus nelsoni · A. caudacutus subvirgatus · A. caudatus · A. henslowii (Henslow's Sparrow) · A. henslowii henslowii (Henslow's Sparrow) · A. henslowii houstonensis (Texas Henslow's Sparrow) · A. henslowii occidentalis · A. henslowii susurrans · A. humeralis (Grassland Sparrow) · A. humeralis humeralis (Grassland Sparrow) · A. humeralis tarijensis · A. humeralis xanthornus · A. lecontei (Le Conte's Sparrow) · A. leconteii (Le Conte's Sparrow) · A. longicaudatus · A. manimbe · A. maritimus (Seaside Sparrow) · A. maritimus fisheri (Louisiana Seaside Sparrow) · A. maritimus juncicola · A. maritimus junicola · A. maritimus macgillivraii (Seaside Sparrow) · A. maritimus maritimus (Seaside Sparrow) · A. maritimus mirabilis (Cape Sable Seaside Sparrow) · A. maritimus nigrescens (Dusky Seaside Sparrow) · A. maritimus pelonota · A. maritimus peninsulae (Scott's Seaside Sparrow) · A. maritimus sennetti (Seaside Sparrow) · A. nelsoni (Nelson's Sharp-Tailed Sparrow) · A. nelsoni nelsoni · A. nelsoni subvirgatus · A. nelsonii · A. nigrescens · A. passerinus · A. rostratus · A. sandwichensis · A. sandwichensis alaudinus · A. sandwichensis athinus · A. sandwichensis beldingi · A. sandwichensis princeps · A. sandwichensis rostratus · A. sandwichensis savanna · A. savannarum (Yellow Winged Sparrow) · A. savannarum ammolegus (Arizona Grasshopper Sparrow) · A. savannarum australis · A. savannarum bimaculatus · A. savannarum borinquensis · A. savannarum caribaeus · A. savannarum caucae · A. savannarum cracens · A. savannarum floridanus (Florida Grasshopper Sparrow) · A. savannarum intricatus · A. savannarum perpallidus (Grasshopper Sparrow) · A. savannarum pratensis (Grasshopper Sparrow) · A. savannarum savannarum (Yellow-Winged Sparrow) · A. xanthornus
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