Birds of the Upper Cumberland Region: Species Accounts

Lark Sparrow (Chondestes grammacus)

Lark Sparrow [lateral view of adult]. Photograph Credit: Stephen J. Stedman; Rotten Fork Rd., Fentress County, Tennessee; 12 August 2012.

Abundance:  Very Uncommon; 17 records in 10 Regional counties, 4 in Kentucky and 6 in Tennessee (Map of UCR Distribution); data from the Regional bird-monitoring efforts are few but suggest a strongly negative trend in the small population formerly, and presently (2013), breeding in the Region (see also Regional Bird-Monitoring Plan).

Status: Visitor or Transient from spring through fall; formerly a Summer Resident and possibly remains such; designated as a threatened breeding species by the Kentucky State Nature Preserves Commission (2004); designated as threatened by the Tennessee Division of Natural Heritage (2004); photographs (see above and links below).

Regional High Count: 3 (1 June 1975; Warren County, Tennessee; Daniel R. Jacobson).

Information on Records:

15 April 1891 (?) Pulaski County, Kentucky (Mengel 1965).

14 June 1945 (breeding pair) 14 miles SSE of McMinnville, Warren County, Tennessee (Albert F. Ganier, Alfred Clebsch; Ganier and Clebsch 1947).

24 April 1966 (2) Seven Springs Rd., Putnam County, Tennessee (William J. Jones, Miser R. Richmond; Anonymous 1966a; Stedman 1993), a Spring Bird Count record.

12 May 1966 (2) Cookeville, Putnam County, Tennessee (no observers listed; White 1966b).

June 1968 (?) Sunnybrook BBS, Wayne County, Kentucky (BBS observer).

6 May 1969 (?) Clay County, Tennessee (Roy T. Hinds; Parmer 1969c).

June 1971 (?) Union Hill BBS in Macon County, Tennessee (BBS observer).

1/8 June 1975 (3—1 nest-building; nest later plowed over) Viola, Warren County, Tennessee (Daniel R. Jacobson; Williams 1975e). 

June 1980 (?) Union Hill BBS in Clay County, Tennessee (BBS observer).

13 May 1987 (2) near Pippin Rd., Putnam County, Tennessee (David Hume; Stedman 1993).

11 july 1990 (3—2 adults and 1 fledgling) southwestern Monroe County, Kentucky (Kentucky Breeding Bird Atlas observer; Palmer-Ball 1996).

28 July 1998 (1—immature) Cane Creek Park, Cookeville, Putnam County, Tennessee (Stephen J. Stedman).

9–10 September 2003 (1) Clifty Pond, Pulaski County, Kentucky (Roseanna M. Denton; Palmer-Ball and McNeeley 2004a).

16 April 2011 (1) Mt. Zion, Pulaski County, Kentucky (Roseanna M. Denton).

12 August 2012 (1) Rotten Fork Rd., Fentress County, Tennessee (Edmund K. LeGrand, Stephen J. Stedman photo [see above]).

22 August 2012 (1) Leffle Webb Rd., Cumberland County, Tennessee (Edmund K. LeGrand photo).

1 June 2013 (1—singing male) north-central Barren County, Kentucky (Roseanna M. Denton photo), a Barren County Foray record.

Regional Extreme Dates: 

    Early Spring: 15 April 1891 (Pulaski County, Kentucky; Mengel 1965).

    Late Fall: 10 September 2003 (Pulaski County, Kentucky; Roseanna M. Denton; Palmer-Ball and McNeeley 2004a).

YardWatch Results 2003 and 2004: No registrations.

Foray Results: A summary of data from UCR Forays follows (to view a map displaying foray data for a county or a sub-Region for this species, click on the name of an underlined county or state below):

* Because some foray blocks fall into two or three counties, the total of blocks in the Kentucky or Tennessee portions of the Region is less than the sum of the blocks in the counties of each portion of the Region; similarly, because some blocks fall into both states, the total of blocks for the Region is less than the sum of the blocks in the two states.

Breeding: Possible Recent and Confirmed Historical. An abandoned nest and a male in breeding condition were located in Warren County, Tennessee, during June 1945 (Ganier and Clebsch 1947); nest-building was noted in Warren County, Tennessee, during early June 1975 (Williams 1975e); 2 adults with 1 recent fledgling in southwestern Monroe County, Kentucky, 11 July 1990 confirmed breeding in that state during the atlas project there (Palmer-Ball 1996). A singing male in the Horse Cave 6 block, Barren County, Kentucky, 1 June 2013 (Roseanna M. Denton photo) indicated possible recent breeding.

Habitat: Pastures; the abandoned nest in Warren County, Tennessee, was located in thick "tussock grass" (Ganier and Clebsch 1947: 9).

Remarks: McNair (2000) reviews all breeding and breeding-season records in Tennessee.

    Alsop undated [1980] indicates records in Pickett and Smith counties, Tennessee.

Check-lists of Birds for the Counties of the UCR

Check-lists of the birds of each county of the Upper Cumberland Region may be viewed by clicking on the links below. For each county, there are two check-lists: one list that shows the species that have been observed and where possible documented in the county within the larger list for the entire Region; and one list that includes only the species observed in the county with annotations for the date and observers for at least one sighting (the ultimate goal of the latter list will be to include annotations for the very first known Regional observation of each species in that county; this goal is probably one that will take many years to complete, if completion is even a possibility). To see if the species discussed in this species account has been observed in a county, click below or click on the link for the Map of UCR Distribution near the top of the page.

Check-lists of Birds for Some Public Access Birding Sites of the UCR

Check-lists of the birds of some public access birding sites within the Upper Cumberland Region may be viewed via the links below. To see if the species dealt with in this species account has been observed within any of these sites, click on the appropriate link below. See the pages for each county within the Gazetteer for links to additional smaller public access birding sites with check-lists in progress.

Literature Cited