Vesper Sparrow (Pooecetes gramineus) | Details

Vesper Sparrow Pooecetes gramineus

Current view: Data table and detailed info

Taxonomy

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.

IUCN Red List criteria met and history

Red List criteria met

Critically Endangered	Endangered	Vulnerable
-	-	-

Red List history

Year	Category	Criteria
2021	Least Concern
2016	Least Concern
2012	Least Concern
2009	Least Concern
2008	Least Concern
2004	Least Concern
2000	Lower Risk/Least Concern
1994	Lower Risk/Least Concern
1988	Lower Risk/Least Concern

Species attributes

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

Range

	Estimate	Data quality
Extent of Occurrence (breeding/resident)	10,300,000 km²	medium
Extent of Occurrence (non-breeding)	8,800,000 km²	medium
Severely fragmented?	no	-

Population

	Estimate	Data quality	Derivation	Year of estimate
Population size	35000000 mature individuals	poor	estimated	2019
Population trend	decreasing	-	estimated	-
Rate of change over the past 10 years/3 generations (longer of the two periods)	10%	-	-	-
Generation length	2.43 years	-	-	-

Population justification: The global population is estimated to number 35 million mature individuals (Partners in Flight 2019).

Trend justification: The species has been undergoing a moderate decline at an average rate of 0.9% per year between 1970 and 2017 (Partners in Flight 2019). Short-term trends suggest that the population declined by 10% over the past ten years (Pardieck et al. 2018).

Country/territory distribution

Country/Territory	Presence	Origin	Resident	Breeding visitor	Non-breeding visitor	Passage migrant
Bahamas	extant	vagrant			yes
Belize	extant	vagrant			yes
Bermuda (to UK)	extant	vagrant				yes
Canada	extant	native		yes
Guatemala	extant	vagrant			yes
Mexico	extant	native			yes
St Pierre and Miquelon (to France)	extant	vagrant		yes
Turks and Caicos Islands (to UK)	extant	vagrant			yes
USA	extant	native	yes	yes	yes	yes

Important Bird and Biodiversity Areas (IBA)

Country/Territory	IBA Name

Habitats & altitude

Habitat (level 1)	Habitat (level 2)	Importance	Occurrence
Artificial/Terrestrial	Arable Land	suitable	non-breeding
Artificial/Terrestrial	Arable Land	suitable	breeding
Artificial/Terrestrial	Pastureland	suitable	non-breeding
Artificial/Terrestrial	Pastureland	suitable	breeding
Grassland	Temperate	major	non-breeding
Grassland	Temperate	major	breeding
Shrubland	Temperate	suitable	non-breeding
Shrubland	Temperate	suitable	breeding
Altitude		Occasional altitudinal limits

Recommended citation
BirdLife International (2025) Species factsheet: Vesper Sparrow Pooecetes gramineus. Downloaded from https://datazone.birdlife.org/species/factsheet/vesper-sparrow-pooecetes-gramineus on 25/01/2025.
Recommended citation for factsheets for more than one species: BirdLife International (2025) IUCN Red List for birds. Downloaded from https://datazone.birdlife.org/species/search on 25/01/2025.