Grasshopper Sparrow Photos

Photography by Terry Sohl

My Favorite: July 11th. CLEARLY July 11th is the best day of any year to get a Grasshopper Sparrow photo, given that somehow 14 of my 18 photos below (78%!) were taken on a July 11th. My favorite photo and encounter with a Grasshopper Sparrow are photos 15 to 18, taken on July 11th, 2020 in McCook County, South Dakota. It's the closest any Grasshopper Sparrow has ever let me get, which allowed me to get some photos with a great amount of detail, but it was also just such a nice encounter in that I got to sit there an watch him on the same post for about 15 minutes. He was clearly in forage mode, not using the post as a singing or display perch, because he kept shifting positions, looking down at the ground, and searching for insects. Twice he jumped down and disappeared for a moment, evidently capturing (or trying to capture) a buggy snack, but every time he would pop right back up on the same post. With all the movement it allowed me to get photos of him in several different positions. And I admit for the photo below, I kind of like the "bad haircut" vibe as a strong wind that morning ruffled his head feathers.

Grasshopper Sparrow - Ammodramus savannarum


Grasshopper Sparrow 1	Grasshopper Sparrow 2	Grasshopper Sparrow 3	Grasshopper Sparrow 4
July 8th, 2008	July 5, 2006	July 11th, 2008	July 11th, 2006
Minnehaha County, South Dakota	Minnehaha County, South Dakota	Minnehaha County, South Dakota	Minnehaha County, South Dakota
Sparrow singing on the top of a wooden fence post	Vertical of a sparrow on top of a metal post	Inquisitive looking bird on top of old fence post	Sparrow singing from the top of an eastern red cedar

Grasshopper Sparrow 5	Grasshopper Sparrow 6	Grasshopper Sparrow 7	Grasshopper Sparrow 8
July 11th, 2006	July 11th, 2006	July 11th, 2008	July 11th, 2008
Minnehaha County, South Dakota	Minnehaha County, South Dakota	Minnehaha County, South Dakota	Minnehaha County, South Dakota
Sparrow singing from the top of an eastern red cedar	Sparrow singing from a strand of barbed wire fence	Bird perched at the top of a small eastern red cedar (juniper)	Bird singing from the top of a small eastern red cedar

Grasshopper Sparrow 9	Grasshopper Sparrow 10	Grasshopper Sparrow 11	Grasshopper Sparrow 12
July 11th, 2008	July 11th, 2008	July 11th, 2008	July 11th, 2009
Minnehaha County, South Dakota	Minnehaha County, South Dakota	Minnehaha County, South Dakota	Fort Pierre National Grasslands, South Dakota
Sparrow perched on the top of an eastern red cedar	Head-on sparrow singing from a barbed wire fence	Head on view of sparrow perched on barbed wire fence	Sparrow perched on barbed wire fence

Grasshopper Sparrow 13	Grasshopper Sparrow 14	Grasshopper Sparrow 15	Grasshopper Sparrow 16
July 23rd, 2011	August 13th, 2011	July 11th, 2020	July 11th, 2020
Grand River National Grasslands, South Dakota	Minnehaha County, South Dakota	McCook County, South Dakota	McCook County, South Dakota
Young first year bird (?) on rock in a grassy field	Bird perched at the side of a gravel road	Profile of sparrow on old wooden fence post	Wind blowing the "hair" of a sparrow on a wooden fence post

Grasshopper Sparrow 17	Grasshopper Sparrow 18	Grasshopper Sparrow 19	Grasshopper Sparrow 20
July 11th, 2020	July 11th, 2020	July 5th, 2020	July 19th, 2020
McCook County, South Dakota	McCook County, South Dakota	McCook County, South Dakota	McCook County, South Dakota
Vertical of bird on wooden fence post	Profile of sparrow on old wooden fence post	Sparrow and typical grassland habitat	First-of-year sparrow on barbed wire fence

Grasshopper Sparrow 21	Grasshopper Sparrow 22	Grasshopper Sparrow 23
July 19th, 2020	June 27th, 2020	June 27th, 2020
McCook County, South Dakota	Wind Cave National Park, South Dakota	Wind Cave National Park, South Dakota
Juvenile sparrow on barbed wire fence	Singing bird in typical grassland habitat	Perched bird in typical grassland habitat