Figure 393. Distribution of 71 Sprague’s Pipits accepted through 2003, showing the concentration of records in the Imperial Valley, where small numbers may winter regularly. Most of the interior records involve wintering birds, and all but one of the coastal records involve fall migrants. Southeast Farallon Island’s three occurrences are the only ones from northern California.

 

Figure 394. Typifying the Sprague’s Pipit’s occurrence in California during fall migration was this one, photographed on 20 October 1991 at the Sepulveda Basin, Los Angeles County. The scaly pattern on its mantle signifies first-year plumage (1992-039; Larry Sansone).

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

SPRAGUE’S PIPIT Anthus spragueii (Audubon, 1844)

Accepted: 71 (88%)	Treated in Appendix H: yes
Not accepted: 10	CBRC review: all records
Not submitted/reviewed: 8	Color image: none

This pipit breeds on well-drained short-grass prairies in a limited range that extends from north-central Alberta to southwestern Manitoba in the north and from southern Montana to central South Dakota in the south. Very rarely, territorial birds are found in northeastern British Columbia and western Minnesota. The species migrates primarily through the eastern Great Plains to wintering grounds that extend from central Mexico northward. The limited winter range in the Southwest includes southern Arizona, southwestern New Mexico, and extreme western Texas. The species also winters locally from central and eastern Texas north to southern Kansas and east to Arkansas, Louisiana, and northwestern Florida. Vagrant records are scattered across much of Canada, the United States (particularly in the East), and southern Mexico, but the first for the Pacific Northwest did not come until 1 October 2005, when a bird was documented on Oregon’s southern coast (NAB 60:131).

Three Sprague’s Pipits present in San Diego County’s Tijuana River valley between 19 and 27 October 1974 were the first to be recorded in California (one collected on 24 October; McCaskie 1975a). Known or likely fall vagrants account for the state’s first 12 records, but by the end of 2003 such birds made up only about one-third of the documented individuals (23 of 71). The typical fall vagrant is a lone bird found near the coast during October, but flocks of up to three have been encountered, and a few fall records come from the interior; bracketing dates are 21 September and 19 December. The remaining two-thirds (48 of 71) refer to birds known or presumed to have overwintered in the state. Such records usually involve groups of 4–12 birds in the interior; bracketing dates are 2 November and 17 April. The only winter record from the coastal slope involves a bird present from 2 December 1989 to 19 February 1990 at Plano Trabuco, Orange County. All three northern California records refer to fall vagrants on Southeast Farallon Island (Figure 393). See also Appendix H.

As described by Rosenberg et al. (1991), Sprague’s Pipit is a rare, regular winter visitor to the Lower Colorado River Valley in Arizona, where “the most important ingredient [of their fairly specialized wintering habitat] is dry Bermuda grass” (Cynodon dactylon). These authors surmised, “It is unlikely that any native habitat supported this species before the development of agriculture in the valley.” Their remarks appear applicable to southeastern California as well, particularly the Imperial Valley, where up to a dozen Sprague’s Pipits have been found during recent winters. These birds form only loose associations, not conspicuous flocks, and they are cryptic and secretive, avoiding areas of bare dirt and close-cropped turf that would more readily betray their presence. Considering the vast expanses of potentially suitable wintering habitat in southeastern California, records to date may not fairly represent the winter status of Sprague’s Pipit in this part of the state.

 

[GRAY SILKY-FLYCATCHER Ptilogonys cinereus Swainson, 1827 – see Supplemental List]

[OLIVE WARBLER Peucedramus taeniatus (Du Bus de Gisignies, 1847) – see hypothetical section]