Nelson's Sparrow Sparrow Photos

Photography by Terry Sohl

My Favorite: A nemesis bird! Nelson's Sparrow are awfully close in appearance to LeConte's Sparrows, another "skulker" that migrates through the state. Nelson's Sparrows tend to use a little bit wetter habitat, such as cattails and other wetland vegetation, while LeConte's Sparrows are often found in wet meadows and slightly more upland habitats. However, both species do overlap in the types of habitat they prefer, and they are sometimes found together during migration. So...why do I have a billion LeConte's Sparrow photos, and just a handful of Nelson's Sparrows!?!? I don't think they're nearly as plentiful in migration, obviously, but they also do seem to be even more "skulky" than a Leconte's Sparrows.

Until 2020 I really didn't have any photos of the species I was happy with. However on October 12th, 2020 I was driving to...somewhere else...in Minnehaha County when I passed a very small wetland of a few acres, the space which was mostly filled with cattails. As I drove past a smattering of sparrows flushed from the side of the road and disappeared into the vegetation. Do I turn back? Letting curiosity get the better of me I did put the car in reverse, and pulled over next to the wetland. I'm very glad I did! After 20 years of trying to get a good photo of the species, there one was, in this tiny little microhabitat, sitting still in the open a mere 20 feet from me! I was able to take quite a few photos of this beauty before he went on his way. Here's hoping it's not another 20 years until I get a good look and photo of this gorgeous species!

Nelson's Sparrow - Ammodramus nelsoni


Nelson's Sparrow 1	Nelson's Sparrow 2	Nelson's Sparrow 3	Nelson's Sparrow 4
September 26th, 2012	September 26th, 2012	September 26th, 2012	October 15th, 2015
Minnehaha County, South Dakota	Minnehaha County, South Dakota	Minnehaha County, South Dakota	Minnehaha County, South Dakota
Sparrow over-the-shoulder look in cattail habitat	Another one in cattail habitat. First one I've ever photographed! Can you blame me! :-)	Profile of a Nelson's Sparrow in cattail habitat	Profile of a Nelson's Sparrow perched on a barbed wire fence

Nelson's Sparrow 5	Nelson's Sparrow 6	Nelson's Sparrow 7	Nelson's Sparrow 8
October 12th, 2020	October 12th, 2020	October 12th, 2020	October 12th, 2020
Minnehaha County, South Dakota	Minnehaha County, South Dakota	Minnehaha County, South Dakota	Minnehaha County, South Dakota
Relatively clean look at Nelson's Sparrow perched on cattail	Closeup of the colorful plumage on a Nelson's Sparrow	Vertical of partially obscured sparrow in wetland habitat	Vertical of partially obscured sparrow in wetland habitat

Nelson's Sparrow 9
October 12th, 2020
Minnehaha County, South Dakota
Nelson's Sparrow posing in warm early morning sun

Click here for the species description page for the Nelson's Sparrow.

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Please mail any comments/suggestions/additional links for this page to: Terry L. Sohl