• Summary
• Text account
• Data table and detailed info
• Distribution map
• Reference and further resources

Taxonomic note

Ammospiza caudacuta (del Hoyo and Collar 2016) was previously placed in the genus Ammodramus and listed as A. caudacutus following AOU (1998 & supplements).

 

Taxonomic source(s)
del Hoyo, J., Collar, N.J., Christie, D.A., Elliott, A., Fishpool, L.D.C., Boesman, P. and Kirwan, G.M. 2016. HBW and BirdLife International Illustrated Checklist of the Birds of the World. Volume 2: Passerines. Lynx Edicions and BirdLife International, Barcelona, Spain and Cambridge, UK.

Red List criteria met

Critically Endangered	Endangered	Vulnerable
-	A2ace+3ce+4ace	A2ace+3ce+4ace; B2ab(i,ii,iii,iv,v)

Red List history

Year	Category	Criteria
2020	Endangered	A2ace+3ce+4ace
2018	Endangered	A2ace+3ce+4ace
2017	Endangered	A2ace+3ce+4ace
2016	Vulnerable	B2ab(i,ii,iii,iv,v)
2012	Vulnerable	B2ab(i,ii,iii,iv,v)
2008	Vulnerable	B2a+b(i,ii,iii,iv,v)
2004	Vulnerable
2000	Lower Risk/Near Threatened
1994	Not Recognised
1988	Not Recognised

Migratory status	full migrant	Forest dependency	does not normally occur in forest
Land-mass type	continent	Average mass	-

	Estimate	Data quality
Extent of Occurrence (breeding/resident)	241,000 km2	medium
Extent of Occurrence (non-breeding)	493,000 km2	medium
Area of Occupancy (breeding/resident)	1,999 km2	medium
Severely fragmented?	yes	-

	Estimate	Data quality	Derivation	Year of estimate
Population size	37000-69000 mature individuals	medium	estimated	2016
Population trend	decreasing	poor	estimated	2014-2024
Rate of change over the past 10 years/3 generations (longer of the two periods)	50-79%	-	-	-
Rate of change over the future 10 years/3 generations (longer of the two periods)	50-79%	-	-	-
Rate of change over the past & future 10 years/3 generations (longer of the two periods)	50-79%	-	-	-
Generation length	2.35 years	-	-	-
Number of subpopulations	2-100	-	-	-
Percentage of mature individuals in largest subpopulation	1-89%	-	-	-

Population justification: Recent population estimates suggest that the species may number 53,000 (37,000-69,000) individuals in the breeding range (Wiest et al. 2016). This population estimate was conducted to largely capture the breeding population (C. Elphick in litt. 2017) and so this may actually equate to the number of mature individuals. Whilst this species was previously thought to adopt a 60:40 sex ratio, recent findings found that this is likely a result of interannual variation and when measured across multiple years, the sex ratio is confirmed to be ~1:1 (Benvenuti et al. 2018). As a result, the population is placed in the band 37,000-69,000 mature individuals.

Trend justification: Correll et al. (2017) estimated that the species has undergone a 9.0% annual decline throughout its range since the 1990s. This equates to a 61.1% decline over a ten year period (placed here in the range 50-79%), which is considered likely to continue into the future.

Country/Territory	Presence	Origin	Resident	Breeding visitor	Non-breeding visitor	Passage migrant
Canada	extant	vagrant		yes
USA	extant	native	yes	yes	yes

Country/Territory	IBA Name
USA	Assateague Island
USA	Barn Island Wildlife Management Area
USA	Bass River Marsh
USA	Delmarva Bayside Marshes
USA	Gallilee Marshes
USA	Great Bay
USA	Hammonasset Beach State Park
USA	Hampton/Seabrook Estuary
USA	Hundred Acre Cove
USA	Lea-Hutaff Island
USA	Marsh Meadows
USA	Ninigret Pond and Conservation Areas
USA	Palmer River
USA	Pettaquamscutt Cove
USA	Potomowut River
USA	Rumstick/Jacobs Points
USA	Sachuest Point & 3rd Beach
USA	Sapowet Marsh Wildlife Management Area
USA	Southern Dorchester County

Habitat (level 1)	Habitat (level 2)	Importance	Occurrence
Marine Intertidal	Salt Marshes (Emergent Grasses)	major	non-breeding
Marine Intertidal	Salt Marshes (Emergent Grasses)	major	breeding
Altitude		Occasional altitudinal limits

Threat (level 1)	Threat (level 2)	Impact and Stresses
Climate change & severe weather	Habitat shifting & alteration	Timing		Scope		Severity		Impact
		Ongoing		Majority (50-90%)		Unknown		Unknown
		Stresses Ecosystem degradation
Climate change & severe weather	Storms & flooding	Timing		Scope		Severity		Impact
		Ongoing		Majority (50-90%)		Rapid Declines		Medium Impact: 7
		Stresses Reduced reproductive success, Species mortality
Invasive and other problematic species, genes & diseases	Invasive non-native/alien species/diseases - Phragmites australis	Timing		Scope		Severity		Impact
		Ongoing		Minority (<50%)		Slow, Significant Declines		Low Impact: 5
		Stresses Ecosystem degradation
Invasive and other problematic species, genes & diseases	Invasive non-native/alien species/diseases - Spartina alterniflora	Timing		Scope		Severity		Impact
		Ongoing		Minority (<50%)		Slow, Significant Declines		Low Impact: 5
		Stresses Ecosystem degradation
Invasive and other problematic species, genes & diseases	Problematic native species/diseases - Ammospiza nelsoni	Timing		Scope		Severity		Impact
		Ongoing		Minority (<50%)		Negligible declines		Low Impact: 4
		Stresses Hybridisation
Natural system modifications	Other ecosystem modifications	Timing		Scope		Severity		Impact
		Ongoing		Minority (<50%)		Slow, Significant Declines		Low Impact: 5
		Stresses Ecosystem degradation, Ecosystem conversion
Pollution	Agricultural & forestry effluents - Type Unknown/Unrecorded	Timing		Scope		Severity		Impact
		Ongoing		Majority (50-90%)		Negligible declines		Low Impact: 5
		Stresses Ecosystem degradation
Pollution	Industrial & military effluents - Type Unknown/Unrecorded	Timing		Scope		Severity		Impact
		Ongoing		Minority (<50%)		Slow, Significant Declines		Low Impact: 5
		Stresses Ecosystem degradation
Residential & commercial development	Housing & urban areas	Timing		Scope		Severity		Impact
		Ongoing		Minority (<50%)		Slow, Significant Declines		Low Impact: 5
		Stresses Ecosystem degradation, Ecosystem conversion
Transportation & service corridors	Roads & railroads	Timing		Scope		Severity		Impact
		Ongoing		Minority (<50%)		Slow, Significant Declines		Low Impact: 5
		Stresses Ecosystem degradation, Ecosystem conversion

---

Recommended citation
BirdLife International (2024) Species factsheet: Saltmarsh Sparrow Ammospiza caudacuta. Downloaded from https://datazone.birdlife.org/species/factsheet/saltmarsh-sparrow-ammospiza-caudacuta on 23/11/2024.
Recommended citation for factsheets for more than one species: BirdLife International (2024) IUCN Red List for birds. Downloaded from https://datazone.birdlife.org/species/search on 23/11/2024.