Swamp Sparrow    Melospiza georgiana

Conservation Status

General Status in Canada : Secure

COSEWIC Status : Not assessed

Swamp Sparrows have high mortality during migration due to collisions with buildings and other standing structures. Entire broods in some populations can be lost to environmental conditions, such as late flooding in the spring. Swamp Sparrows also experience nest parasitism by Brown-headed Cowbirds. Despite these concerns, populations are considered stable and secure, likely due to the remoteness of most of their breeding habitat, and the wide variety of habitats that they utilise during winter. Future threats to this species could include the loss of wetlands - due to either human habitat disturbance or to changing climate.

Reference(s)

Mowbray, T. B. 1997. Swamp Sparrow (Melospiza georgiana), The Birds of North America Online, . A. Poole, Ed. Ithaca: Cornell Laboratory of Ornithology; Retrieved from The Birds of North America Online database: http://bna.birds.cornell.edu/bna/species/279