This is a secretive sparrow inhabiting wet shrubby fields, weedy meadows, and sometimes in the winter, it can be found in the understory of pine forests of the deep Southern U.S. This 5 inch bird has greenish stripes on its head, nape and most of its central crown. Its wings are mostly chestnut-colored.

This sparrow is one of the most difficult to see because of its secretive habits and its tendency to fly quickly from dense cover to dense cover when flushed. Add to that the low numbers of this species--it is a federal species of concern, has protected status in both Tennessee and North Carolina, and is an American Bird Conservancy species of "highest continental concern"--it is surprising it has been detected in the park at all. A "waste area" field in Townsend, Tennessee, was found to be especially rich in late autumn sparrows in 2000, with at least one report of this species being sighted, but that field was converted into a shopping area in 2001. Cades Cove would seem the most likely place for more sightings of this species in the area. Over flights have been recorded at Purchase Knob by monitoring nocturnal migration calls.

Most records for the park and area are from late autumn (Stupka 1963). The first park record was from Cades Cove (October 28, 1933). a second was from Greenbriar at the beginning of the Ramsey Cascades Trail (2 birds, October 28, 1947), and a third was recorded two different times during the very early morning of October 21, 2004, during a study of migratory flight calls at Purchase Knob by Mark Armstrong of the Knoxville Zoo. A fourth record comes from Gatlinburg in April of 1958 (Stupka) and may or may not represent a park record.

References:

Stupka, A. 1963. Notes on the Birds of Great Smoky Mountains National Park. University of Tennessee Press, Knoxville.

Gough, G. A., Sauer, J. R., Iliff, M. Patuxent Bird Identification InfoCenter. 1998. Version 97.1. Patuxent Wildlife Research Center, Laurel, MD.

National Geographic Field Guide to the Birds of North America, Fourth Edition (2002), National Geographic Society, Washington, DC., Editor in Chief: K. Mulroy.