Grasshopper Sparrow
Grasshopper Sparrow has fallen sharply: down 52% on the route-weighted index since 1968.
About the Grasshopper Sparrow
The Grasshopper Sparrow (Ammodramus savannarum) is a North American member of the New World Sparrows (Passerellidae). In this analysis it is grouped with the grassland birds.
- Size
- 4.5–7.5 in long (12–19 cm) — a small songbird (typical for the family)
- Habitat
- Open grasslands, prairie, pasture and hayfields.
- Diet
- Seeds and insects gathered from grasses and the ground.
- Range
- Recorded on 2,229 Breeding Bird Survey routes across 47 states, most concentrated in the Appalachian Mountains.
- Family
- Passerellidae · Grassland birds
Notable Grasshopper Sparrow Trends
Grasshopper Sparrow has fallen sharply in surveyed states: down 52% on the route-weighted index since 1968.
Grasshopper Sparrow Population Forecast
If the recent trend holds, Grasshopper Sparrow is projected to stay roughly flat through 2029, near 1.8 (95% range 1.0–2.6). A 5-year backtest shows a typical error of ±9.4%, with 100% of held-out values landing inside the 95% band.
| Year | Projected index | 95% low | 95% high |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 1.9 | 1.1 | 2.7 |
| 2026 | 1.9 | 1.1 | 2.6 |
| 2027 | 1.8 | 1.1 | 2.6 |
| 2028 | 1.8 | 1.0 | 2.6 |
| 2029 | 1.8 | 1.0 | 2.6 |
Where the Grasshopper Sparrow Is Detected
BBS routes recording Grasshopper Sparrow, sized by most recent count.
Grasshopper Sparrow Population Trend by State
| Alabama | -87% | 1968 | 34 |
| Arizona | -40% | 1970 | 7 |
| Arkansas | -42% | 1969 | 29 |
| California | +197% | 1974 | 61 |
| Colorado | -63% | 1970 | 66 |
| Connecticut | insufficient data | n/a | 5 |
| Delaware | +129% | 1968 | 17 |
| Florida | insufficient data | n/a | 1 |
| Georgia | -95% | 1968 | 43 |
| Idaho | -47% | 1972 | 31 |
| Illinois | -94% | 1968 | 99 |
| Indiana | -95% | 1968 | 60 |
| Iowa | -94% | 1969 | 39 |
| Kansas | -39% | 1969 | 66 |
| Kentucky | -97% | 1968 | 54 |
| Louisiana | insufficient data | n/a | 3 |
| Maine | insufficient data | n/a | 2 |
| Maryland | -60% | 1968 | 71 |
| Massachusetts | insufficient data | n/a | 5 |
| Michigan | -93% | 1968 | 79 |
| Minnesota | -68% | 1969 | 72 |
| Mississippi | -96% | 1972 | 8 |
| Missouri | -55% | 1969 | 80 |
| Montana | +490% | 1970 | 77 |
| Nebraska | +24% | 1969 | 76 |
| Nevada | -88% | 1989 | 9 |
| New Hampshire | insufficient data | n/a | 6 |
| New Jersey | -62% | 1969 | 29 |
| New Mexico | +135% | 1974 | 21 |
| New York | -93% | 1968 | 85 |
| North Carolina | +5% | 1968 | 58 |
| North Dakota | -34% | 1969 | 48 |
| Ohio | -94% | 1968 | 76 |
| Oklahoma | +333% | 1969 | 64 |
| Oregon | -28% | 1973 | 25 |
| Pennsylvania | -87% | 1968 | 122 |
| South Carolina | -69% | 1968 | 24 |
| South Dakota | -13% | 1969 | 60 |
| Tennessee | -89% | 1968 | 35 |
| Texas | +218% | 1969 | 151 |
| Utah | -62% | 1988 | 20 |
| Vermont | -1% | 1987 | 4 |
| Virginia | -67% | 1968 | 65 |
| Washington | +102% | 1973 | 44 |
| West Virginia | -96% | 1968 | 41 |
| Wisconsin | -96% | 1968 | 78 |
| Wyoming | +63% | 1971 | 79 |
Grasshopper Sparrow Population Trend by Region
Bird Conservation Regions are the ecological unit for trends.
| Northern Pacific Rainforest | -65% | 1974 | 23 |
| Great Basin | +12% | 1971 | 104 |
| Northern Rockies | +142% | 1972 | 71 |
| Prairie Potholes | -22% | 1969 | 120 |
| Boreal Hardwood Transition | -56% | 1968 | 76 |
| Lower Great Lakes / St. Lawrence Plain | -94% | 1968 | 71 |
| Atlantic Northern Forest | -64% | 1969 | 14 |
| Southern Rockies / Colorado Plateau | -99% | 1973 | 25 |
| Badlands and Prairies | -21% | 1969 | 128 |
| Shortgrass Prairie | -12% | 1969 | 125 |
| Central Mixed Grass Prairie | +19% | 1969 | 128 |
| Edwards Plateau | +7% | 1970 | 17 |
| Oaks and Prairies | -60% | 1969 | 66 |
| Eastern Tallgrass Prairie | -83% | 1968 | 260 |
| Prairie Hardwood Transition | -93% | 1968 | 142 |
| Central Hardwoods | -93% | 1968 | 140 |
| West Gulf Coastal Plain / Ouachitas | -11% | 1969 | 23 |
| Mississippi Alluvial Valley | -84% | 1969 | 21 |
| Southeastern Coastal Plain | -31% | 1969 | 67 |
| Appalachian Mountains | -92% | 1968 | 284 |
| Piedmont | -77% | 1968 | 144 |
| New England / Mid-Atlantic Coast | -42% | 1968 | 99 |
| Coastal California | +615% | 1974 | 37 |
| Sierra Madre Occidental | -68% | 1970 | 5 |
| Chihuahuan Desert | -37% | 1982 | 10 |
| Tamaulipan Brushlands | -81% | 1970 | 19 |
| Gulf Coastal Prairie | +117% | 1997 | 5 |
Grasshopper Sparrow Conservation Status
Our route-weighted index shows it down about 52% since 1968. Grassland birds are North America's steepest-declining group, down roughly 50% since 1970 as prairie and pasture were lost.
Source: USGS North American Breeding Bird Survey, retrieved 2026-05-22. Trend is a route-weighted relative-abundance index, not an absolute population.