Passerculus sandwichensis
Silhouette: Caleb M. Gordon · PhyloPic
In 3 days ~40% in a week ~70%
The Savannah sparrow (Passerculus sandwichensis) is a small New World sparrow that is the only member of the genus Passerculus. It is a widespread and abundant species that occupies open grassland habitats in North America.
Over most of its range it is migratory, breeding in Canada and the northern United States while wintering in Mexico and the southern United States. It is a sexually monomorphic species that is quite variable in appearance. Around 17 subspecies are currently recognised. These are divided into several groups, some of which have sometimes been considered as separate species.
The species name sandwichensis is Latin from Sandwich Sound (now Prince William Sound) in southern Alaska from where the first specimen was collected. The common name refers to Savannah, Georgia, where Alexander Wilson observed the species in 1811.
The Savannah sparrow was formally described in 1789 by the German naturalist Johann Friedrich Gmelin in his revised and expanded edition of Carl Linnaeus's Systema Naturae. He placed it with the buntings in the genus Emberiza and coined the binomial name Emberiza sandwichensis. Gmelin based his text on the Sandwich bunting that had been... Wikipedia →
| # | City | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | San Diego | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 2 | Calgary | 🇨🇦 Canada | |
| 3 | Los Angeles | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 4 | Toluca | 🇲🇽 México | |
| 5 | Seattle | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 6 | León | 🇲🇽 México | |
| 7 | Chicago | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 8 | San Francisco | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 9 | Boston | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 10 | Vancouver | 🇨🇦 Canada |
| # | Zoo / Centre | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Ralph Perkins II Wildlife Center and Woods Garden | 🇺🇸 United States |
With luck
About 10% of wildlife watchers report a Savannah Sparrow sighting in Calgary on a given day, based on 3,791 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data. It is the 50th most-seen of the 259 birds we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to about 40%, and over a week to about 70%, if each day is a fresh chance.
May and June
In those months about 40% of wildlife watchers report a Savannah Sparrow in Calgary on a given day, against under 5% in October to March, the lowest months. Those are among Calgary's wettest months, with about 95 mm of rain a month against 15 mm in January.
Between 8 and 11 am
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Savannah Sparrow sightings with a recorded time, and about 9 in 10 of them come between 6 am and 6 pm: it is a daytime animal.
2nd of 35
Of the 35 cities where we can rate Savannah Sparrow sightings, Calgary ranks 2nd at about 10%. The best odds are in San Diego (United States, about 20%).
Same family: Passerellidae
The closest relatives of the Savannah Sparrow that you can see in Calgary (family Passerellidae, New World Sparrows) are Song Sparrow (about 20%), Dark-eyed Junco (about 20%) and Clay-colored Sparrow (about 20%), with each one's daily chance of a sighting.
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Savannah Sparrow is recorded against all the birds logged in Calgary (3,791 verified sightings), calibrated against known sighting rates. Figures are rounded to the nearest 10% because citizen-science data supports honest approximations, not decimals, and months with records from fewer than five people show "—". How it works.
