Bird
Vesper Sparrow
Pooecetes gramineus
A winter visitor to Louisiana, found in all 64 parishes and 3 habitats.
- Here
- Winter
- Nesting
- Not known to nest here
- Range
- All 64 parishes
- Habitats
- 3

At a glance
- Group
- Birds
- Here
- Winter
- Nesting
- Not known to nest here
- Range
- All 64 parishes
- Habitats
- 3
- Habitat models
- Summer, Winter
Where it lives
The places its habitat model includes. It is not found everywhere a habitat occurs.
Habitats in Louisiana 3
Each habitat page lists the plants and wildlife also found there.
Disturbed and introduced wetlands
Wet ground taken over by weedy or introduced plants after disturbance, such as common reed, Chinese tallow or tamarisk stands; the upland counterpart is roadsides, fields and disturbed ground.
Borders of forests, clearings and shrubby thickets.
Roadsides, fields and disturbed ground
Ground opened by people: roadsides, old fields, pastures, fencerows and lots.
Other habitats in its models (21)
Land cover, or classes with no habitat page in Louisiana. Those recorded in Louisiana first, the rest by region.
Elsewhere in the South (2)
- East-Central Texas Plains Post Oak Savanna and Woodland Winter.
- Florida Dry Prairie Winter.
Midwest (1)
- North-Central Interior Oak Savanna Winter.
West (1)
- California Central Valley Mixed Oak Savanna Winter.
Land cover and other classes (17)
- East Gulf Coastal Plain Black Belt Calcareous Prairie and Woodland - Herbaceous Modifier Winter.
- East Gulf Coastal Plain Black Belt Calcareous Prairie and Woodland - Woodland Modifier Winter.
- East Gulf Coastal Plain Jackson Prairie and Woodland Winter.
- Eastern Highland Rim Prairie and Barrens - Dry Modifier Summer and winter.
- Harvested Forest - Grass/Forb Regeneration Summer and winter.
- Introduced Upland Vegetation - Annual Grassland Summer and winter.
- Introduced Upland Vegetation - Forbland Summer and winter.
- Introduced Upland Vegetation - Perennial Grassland Summer and winter.
- Introduced Upland Vegetation - Perennial Grassland and Forbland Summer and winter.
- Introduced Upland Vegetation - Shrub Summer and winter.
- Recently Burned Summer and winter.
- Recently Burned Forest Summer and winter.
- Recently Burned Grassland Summer and winter.
- Recently Burned Shrubland Winter.
- Recently Logged Areas Summer and winter.
- Southern Appalachian Grass and Shrub Bald - Herbaceous Modifier Summer.
- Southern Appalachian Grass and Shrub Bald - Shrub Modifier Summer.
Seasons in Louisiana
- Winter: does not nest here, in all 64 parishes.
Food plants
Diet records by plant genus, from studies across North America. Not a record from this state. Plants matched by genus.
Native plants in these genera 202
- Arkansas sedgeCarex arkansana
- Hammock SedgeCarex fissa var. aristata
- Little Tooth SedgeCarex microdonta
- Ozark SedgeCarex ozarkana
- Painted SedgeCarex picta
- Southern Dark Green SedgeCarex venusta var. minor
- Tissue SedgeCarex hyalina
- Bent SedgeCarex styloflexa
- Black-edge SedgeCarex nigromarginata
- Bladder SedgeCarex intumescens
- Blue SedgeCarex glaucodea
- Blue Wood SedgeCarex flaccosperma
- Blunt Broom SedgeCarex tribuloides
- Bristly SedgeCarex comosa
- Bristly-stalk SedgeCarex leptalea
- Broad Looseflower SedgeCarex laxiflora
- Broadwing SedgeCarex alata
- Brome-like SedgeCarex bromoides
- Bush's SedgeCarex bushii
- Carex debilis var. debilisCarex debilis var. debilis
- Carex tribuloides var. sangamonensisCarex tribuloides var. sangamonensis
- Carolina SedgeCarex caroliniana
- Cattail SedgeCarex typhina
- Cherokee SedgeCarex cherokeensis
Plant genera in its diet records (21)
- Nassella 10 diet records. 0 native plants in Louisiana
- Camelina 6 diet records. 0 native plants in Louisiana
- Carex 6 diet records. 84 native plants in Louisiana
- Amaranthus 4 diet records. 5 native plants in Louisiana
- Chenopodium 4 diet records. 3 native plants in Louisiana
- Panicum Seeds. 4 diet records. 12 native plants in Louisiana
- Poa 4 diet records. 3 native plants in Louisiana
- Viola 4 diet records. 13 native plants in Louisiana
- Androsace 2 diet records. 0 native plants in Louisiana
- Bouteloua 2 diet records. 4 native plants in Louisiana
- Cyperus Seeds. 2 diet records. 32 native plants in Louisiana
- Danthonia Seeds. 2 diet records. 2 native plants in Louisiana
- Deschampsia Seeds. 2 diet records. 0 native plants in Louisiana
- Euphorbia 2 diet records. 17 native plants in Louisiana
- Hesperostipa 2 diet records. 0 native plants in Louisiana
- Oxalis Seeds. 2 diet records. 5 native plants in Louisiana
- Plantago 2 diet records. 5 native plants in Louisiana
- Setaria Seeds. 2 diet records. 3 native plants in Louisiana
- Sorghastrum Seeds. 2 diet records. 2 native plants in Louisiana
- Sporobolus 2 diet records. 12 native plants in Louisiana
- Thlaspi 2 diet records. 0 native plants in Louisiana
Also found in its main habitats
Its main habitats in Louisiana, by how much of its habitat model each one is, with the birds most characteristic of each and the plants that grow wild there. Shared habitat, not food.
Roadsides, fields and disturbed ground
Birds 153
- Cape May WarblerDendroica tigrina
- Greater RoadrunnerGeococcyx californianus
- House SparrowPasser domesticus
- Inca DoveColumbina inca
- Long-eared OwlAsio otus
- Monk ParakeetMyiopsitta monachus
- Smith's LongspurCalcarius pictus
- Upland SandpiperBartramia longicauda
- Western Burrowing OwlAthene cunicularia hypugaea
- Rock PigeonColumba livia
- BobolinkDolichonyx oryzivorus
- Bronzed CowbirdMolothrus aeneus
Plants 958
- Muck SunflowerHelianthus simulans
- Canada LettuceLactuca canadensis
- Annual FleabaneErigeron annuus
- Common Evening-primroseOenothera biennis
- Cutleaf Evening-primroseOenothera laciniata
- Dog-fennelEupatorium capillifolium
- Threadleaf SundropsOenothera linifolia
- Carolina Crane's-billGeranium carolinianum
- Golden CrownbeardVerbesina encelioides
- Blackeyed SusanRudbeckia hirta var. pulcherrima
- Downy Ground-cherryPhysalis pubescens
- Gray Ground-cherryPhysalis grisea
Forest edges and thickets
Birds 90
- Spotted TowheePipilo maculatus
- VeeryCatharus fuscescens
- Blue-winged WarblerVermivora pinus
- Chestnut-sided WarblerDendroica pensylvanica
- Golden-winged WarblerVermivora chrysoptera
- Magnolia WarblerDendroica magnolia
- Rufous HummingbirdSelasphorus rufus
- Willow FlycatcherEmpidonax traillii
- Alder FlycatcherEmpidonax alnorum
- Bell's VireoVireo bellii
- Black-billed CuckooCoccyzus erythropthalmus
- House FinchCarpodacus mexicanus
Plants 131
- Southern DewberryRubus trivialis
- Buffalo CloverTrifolium reflexum
- Cutleaf GoldenrodSolidago arguta
- Hairy LettuceLactuca hirsuta
- Saltmarsh Morning-gloryIpomoea sagittata
- Earleaf GreenbrierSmilax auriculata
- Trailing LespedezaLespedeza procumbens
- Creeping LespedezaLespedeza repens
- Violet LespedezaLespedeza frutescens
- Wand LespedezaLespedeza violacea
- Hairy Small-leaf Tick-trefoilDesmodium ciliare
- Hoary Tick-trefoilDesmodium canescens
Disturbed and introduced wetlands
Birds 179
- Black TernChlidonias niger
- Black-chinned HummingbirdArchilochus alexandri
- BobolinkDolichonyx oryzivorus
- Bronzed CowbirdMolothrus aeneus
- Black RailLaterallus jamaicensis
- Chestnut-sided WarblerDendroica pensylvanica
- DickcisselSpiza americana
- Magnolia WarblerDendroica magnolia
- Nelson's Sharp-tailed SparrowAmmodramus nelsoni
- Red-breasted NuthatchSitta canadensis
- Rufous HummingbirdSelasphorus rufus
- Sandwich TernThalasseus sandvicensis
Plants 20
- Slender FimbryFimbristylis autumnalis
- Purple SpikerushEleocharis atropurpurea
- Blue MistflowerConoclinium coelestinum
- BagpodGlottidium vesicarium
- Tropical FlatsedgeCyperus surinamensis
- Blunt Spike RushEleocharis obtusa
- False DaisyEclipta prostrata
- Bristly SedgeCarex comosa
- Shortbeak BeaksedgeRhynchospora nitens
- Southern Marsh YellowcressRorippa teres
- Sensitive FernOnoclea sensibilis
- Ditch FimbryFimbristylis schoenoides
Sources
- USGS Gap Analysis Project habitat models (2001)
- USGS GAP winter habitat model for Vesper Sparrow
- USGS Gap Analysis Project range maps (2001), modeled by watershed; migratory gives no dates
- NatureServe Explorer (CC BY 4.0), habitat names
- US Census TIGER/Line counties
- Names follow the USGS Gap Analysis Project (2001)
- Avian Diet Database (Hurlbert Lab) (CC0 1.0), diet records by plant genus





































































