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Delaware Swamp Sparrow Survey

The Delaware Swamp Sparrow Survey monitors the vulnerable population of the little known and secretive coastal plain swamp sparrow. The annual survey began in 2000 and will end in 2009.

Survey results - swamp sparrow yearly abundance

Swamp sparrows are typically recorded on 47 to 56 points (out of 141). The population appears to be stable.

See more results to discover the abundance and distribution of all birds recorded on the survey.

Where is the survey done?

The interactive map below shows the survey points in Delaware.

How is the survey done?

  • 141 different points are censused in Delaware along the Delaware Bay, the bird's center of abundance.
  • points are located along roads that traverse the marshes that this bird inhabits.
  • point locations range from upland wood edges to the low marsh so that the impact of sea level rise on this bird can be documented.
  • birds are counted during a 5 minute time interval
  • all birds (not just swamp sparrows) are counted within a radius of 100 meters
  • the survey occurs during the height of breeding season, when males are singing the most, in early June
  • birds are surveyed at the time of peak daily activity, 6 to 10 a.m.

Who does the survey?

The survey is a cooperative effort between the Smithsonian Migratory Bird Center and the Delmarva Ornithological Society.

Surveyor's resources

small brown bird singing

Listen to its song

Facebook Group

Publications

Ballentine, B. 2009. The ability to perform physically challenging songs predicts age and size in male swamp sparrows, Melospiza georgiana. Animal Behaviour 77: 973-978.

Beadell, J., Greenberg, R., Droege, S. & Royle, J. A. 2003. Distribution, abundance, and habitat affinities of the Coastal Plain Swamp Sparrow. Wilson Bulletin 115, 38-44.

Greenberg, R. & Droege, S. 1990. Adaptations to tidal marshes in breeding populations of the swamp sparrow. Condor 92, 393-404.

Greenberg, R. 1988. Seasonal plumage dimorphism in the swamp Sparrow. Journal of Field Ornithology 50, 49-54.

Greenberg, R. 1989. Neophobia, aversion to open space, and ecological plasticity in Song and Swamp sparrows. Canadian Journal of Zoology 67, 1194-1199.

Greenberg, R. 1992. Differences in neophobia between naive song and swamp sparrows. Ethology 91, 17-24.

Greenberg, R. 1992. Innate response to a single habitat cue in song and swamp sparrows. Oecologia 92, 299-300.

Greenberg, R. 2003. On the use of nest departure call for survey Swamp Sparrows. Journal of Field Ornithology 74, 12-16.

Greenberg, R. 2003. The use of nest departure calls for surveying Swamp Sparrows. Journal of Field Ornithology 74, 12-16.

Greenberg, R., Cordero, P., Droege, S. & Fleischer, F. 1998. Morphological adaptation in the absence of mitochondrial DNA variation in the coastal plain swamp sparrow. Auk 115, 706-712.

Greenberg, R., Marra, P. P. & Wooler, M. 2007. Stable isotope (C, N, H) analyses locate the unknown winter range of the coastal plain swamp sparrow (Melospiza georgiana nigrescens). The Auk 124: 1137-1148.

Greenberg, R., Olsen, B., Ballentine, B., Warner, S. & Danner, R. 2008. Temporal distribution of the Coastal Plain Swamp Sparrow: The importance of subspecies identification. Birding 40: 42-49.

Liu, I. A., Lohr, B., Olsen, B. & Greenberg, R. 2008. Macrogeographic Vocal Variation in Subspecies of Swamp Sparrow. The Condor 110: 102-109.

Olsen, B., Greenberg, R., Fleischer, R. & Walters, J. 2008. Extrapair paternity in the swamp sparrow, Melospiza georgiana: Male access or female preference? Behavioural Ecology and Sociobiology.

Identification

Separating the subspecies

Symposium & Workshop

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