Seaside Sparrow

Status Rare vagrant. A sparrow believed to have been this species was seen by Robie W. Tufts on the Grand Pre meadows on 29 November 1952. On 4 February 1962, a specimen was collected at East Lawrencetown, Halifax County, by Charles R.K. Allen and Lloyd B. Macpherson. Since then there have been 16 occurrences of at least 19 birds.

The only spring sighting was on Sable Island on 10 May 1971 (D.W. Welsh). The earliest fall migrant was at Eastern Passage, Halifax County, on 16 August 1979 (F.L. Lavender), and another bird was at Economy, Colchester County, on 27 September 1972. Most others have been seen from October through December (including Christmas Bird Counts) at Brier Island, Seal Island, Cole Harbour, Halifax County (three years; a total of four birds), and Economy (four years). One at Cole Harbour in December 1979 was seen there until 10 February 1980. An individual at Conrad Beach, Halifax County, on 29 January 1967, and up to three there in mid-January 1974 were only detected after the freezing of the salt marshes drove them to the margins.

Remarks This dark, short-tailed sparrow, with a very long, pointed bill, nests in coastal marshes from Massachusetts south. Birds that arrive here in fall and attempt to winter are clearly misoriented. The 1962 specimen, and the January 1974 birds photographed by Ian A. McLaren, appear to be of the northernmost subspecies, Ammodramus maritimus maritimus. A bird McLaren photographed at Cole Harbour dyke on 2 January 1980 had strong blackish streaks dorsally and broad, dark streaks on its breast and sides. Its appearance suggested one of the more southern subspecies, perhaps Ammodramus maritimus macgillivraii which nests from North Carolina to Georgia.