Vesper Sparrow (Pooecetes gramineus) [XC186419]
by Martin St-Michel from Grasslands National Park of Canada (near Val Marie), Division No. 4, Saskatchewan, Canada (song)
Vesper Sparrow (Pooecetes gramineus) [XC186844]
by James Bradley from Old Post No. 43 (near Fir Mountain), Division No. 3, Saskatchewan, Canada (song)
Subspecies
Perhaps close to Melospiza and some Ammodramus species. Geographical variation largely clinal.
Proposed subspecies altus (described from Kendrick Park, in north-central Arizona), treated as a synonym of confinis.
The following 3 subspecies are recognised:
confinis Baird, SF, 1858 - Breeds in south-western Canada (central British Columbia and south-western Mackenzie east through central Saskatchewan and southern Manitoba to western Ontario) and southern in USA to central-eastern California, central Nevada, central Arizona, central New Mexico, eastern Colorado and western Nebraska. Non-breeding from southern edge of breeding range (California east to New Mexico) and from southern Texas southern in Mexican highlands (to Oaxaca), occasionally to Guatemala.
affinis Miller, GS, 1888 - Breeds in western Washington and western Oregon (western USA). Non-breeding from central California (west of Sierra Nevada) south to north-western Mexico (north-western Baja California, possibly also Chihuahua).
gramineus (Gmelin, 1789) - Breeds in south-eastern Canada (north-eastern Ontario and southern Quebec east to Prince Edward I and northern Nova Scotia) and eastern USA from northern Minnesota east to Maine and south to central Missouri, central Kentucky, north-eastern Tennessee, central North Carolina and southern Virginia. Non-breeding from southern part of breeding range south to central Texas and Gulf Coast.
BirdLife International Species Factsheet