States
North CarolinaTennesseeGeorgiaSouth CarolinaKentuckyAlabamaArkansasFloridaLouisianaMississippiVirginiaWest Virginia
Menu

Bird

Vesper Sparrow

Pooecetes gramineus

A winter visitor to Mississippi, found in all 82 counties and 4 habitats.

Here
Winter
Nesting
Not known to nest here
Range
All 82 counties
Habitats
4

At a glance

Group
Birds
Here
Winter
Nesting
Not known to nest here
Range
All 82 counties
Habitats
4
Habitat models
Summer, Winter

Where it lives

The places its habitat model includes. It is not found everywhere a habitat occurs.

Habitats in Mississippi 4

Each habitat page lists the plants and wildlife also found there.

1 of 4

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.

Winter

Forest edges and thickets

Borders of forests, clearings and shrubby thickets.

SummerWinterDisturbed/Successional - Shrub Regeneration; Successional Shrub/Scrub (Other); Harvested Forest - Shrub Regeneration

Prairies and grasslands

Open, grass-dominated places kept open by fire, grazing or thin soil, from tallgrass prairie to Piedmont prairies.

WinterEast Gulf Coastal Plain Black Belt Calcareous Prairie and Woodland - Herbaceous Modifier; East Gulf Coastal Plain Jackson Prairie and Woodland

Roadsides, fields and disturbed ground

Ground opened by people: roadsides, old fields, pastures, fencerows and lots.

SummerWinterDeveloped, Open Space; Cultivated Cropland; Pasture/Hay; Disturbed/Successional - Grass/Forb Regeneration; Utility Swath - Herbaceous; Ruderal Upland - Old Field
Other habitats in its models (19)

Land cover, or classes with no habitat page in Mississippi. Those recorded in Mississippi 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 (15)
  • East Gulf Coastal Plain Black Belt Calcareous Prairie and Woodland - Woodland Modifier 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.

All habitats

Seasons in Mississippi

  • Winter: does not nest here, in all 82 counties.

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 249

Plant genera in its diet records (21)
  • Nassella 10 diet records. 0 native plants in Mississippi
  • Camelina 6 diet records. 0 native plants in Mississippi
  • Carex 6 diet records. 131 native plants in Mississippi
  • Amaranthus 4 diet records. 4 native plants in Mississippi
  • Chenopodium 4 diet records. 3 native plants in Mississippi
  • Panicum Seeds. 4 diet records. 14 native plants in Mississippi
  • Poa 4 diet records. 3 native plants in Mississippi
  • Viola 4 diet records. 16 native plants in Mississippi
  • Androsace 2 diet records. 0 native plants in Mississippi
  • Bouteloua 2 diet records. 2 native plants in Mississippi
  • Cyperus Seeds. 2 diet records. 35 native plants in Mississippi
  • Danthonia Seeds. 2 diet records. 2 native plants in Mississippi
  • Deschampsia Seeds. 2 diet records. 0 native plants in Mississippi
  • Euphorbia 2 diet records. 14 native plants in Mississippi
  • Hesperostipa 2 diet records. 0 native plants in Mississippi
  • Oxalis Seeds. 2 diet records. 3 native plants in Mississippi
  • Plantago 2 diet records. 6 native plants in Mississippi
  • Setaria Seeds. 2 diet records. 3 native plants in Mississippi
  • Sorghastrum Seeds. 2 diet records. 4 native plants in Mississippi
  • Sporobolus 2 diet records. 9 native plants in Mississippi
  • Thlaspi 2 diet records. 0 native plants in Mississippi

Avian Diet Database (Hurlbert Lab), CC0 1.0.

Also found in its main habitats

Its main habitats in Mississippi, 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 129

Plants 1094

All of roadsides, fields and disturbed ground in Mississippi

Forest edges and thickets

Birds 75

Plants 172

All of forest edges and thickets in Mississippi

Prairies and grasslands

Birds 50

Plants 240

All of prairies and grasslands in Mississippi

USGS Gap Analysis Project habitat models.

Sources