Henslow's Sparrow

During the walk in the grassy savannas of the 550+ acre farm property that was the subject of my previous post, my 3 friends and I flushed a small secretive bird that repeatedly flushed then dove into the grass and scurried into frozen seclusion like a quail or pheasant. It turns out the solitary bird was a wintering Henslow's Sparrow. The patient bird (image at left), who didn't stray more than 15 feet from us lead-footed humans, tarried long within camera shot and was photographed by my good friend, fellow botanist, and all-around naturalist Michael, to whom credit for the ID and image is due, and whose diverse nature photographs are to be enjoyed at his interesting Flickr site.

Henslow's Sparrows are on the Audubon Watchlist, and have been placed on the ICUN redlist of threatened birds and conservation plans of several national and international organizations.


Florida, birds, birdwatching, sparrow, Henslow, Henslow's Sparrow, savanna