Seaside Sparrow (Ammospiza maritima) [XC648481]
by Paul Driver from Little Egg Harbor Township, Ocean County, New Jersey, United States (song)
Seaside Sparrow (Ammospiza maritima) [XC152391]
by Dan Lane from Rutherford Beach Rd, Cameron Parish, LA, United States (song)
Subspecies
Genus, as currently delimited, is probably polyphyletic. Molecular studies suggest that this species is in a clade with Nelson's Sharp-tailed Sparrow (Ammospiza nelsoni), Sharp-tailed Sparrow (Ammospiza caudacuta) and Le Conte's Sparrow (Ammospiza leconteii). Hybrid with Sharp-tailed Sparrow (Ammospiza caudacuta) has been described. Distinctive subspecies mirabilis and recently extinct nigrescens have been considered to represent two further species. Otherwise, subspecies along Atlantic coast not well marked, nor are those on Gulf of Mexico, but the two groups are clearly different from each other. However, racial differences confused by individual variation and plumage dichromatism (buffy and grey morphs).
The following 8 subspecies are recognised:
maritimus (Wilson, A, 1811) - Breeds coastal eastern USA from New Hampshire and Massachusetts south to extreme northern North Carolina. Non-breeding south to north-eastern Florida.
macgillivraii (Audubon, 1834) - North Carolina south to extreme south-eastern Georgia.
sennetti Allen, JA, 1888 - Coastal southern Texas (from Aransas County south to Nueces Bay). Winters south to mouth of R Grande and to extreme north-eastern Mexico (north-eastern Tamaulipas).
fisheri Chapman, 1899 - San Antonio Bay (Refugio County), in south-eastern Texas, east to south-western Alabama. Non-breeding south-west to Nueces County, in Texas.
juncicola (Griscom and Nichols, 1920) - Coastal north-western Florida from Escambia County east to Taylor County.
peninsulae Allen, JA, 1888 - Western Florida from about Dixie County south to Old Tampa Bay.
mirabilis (Howell, AH, 1919) - South-western Florida from vicinity of Everglades south-eastern (formerly) to Cape Sable.
nigrescens! Ridgway, 1874 - Salt marshes of eastern coastal and eastern Florida. Extinct.
BirdLife International Species Factsheet