Tag Archives: Ammodramus savannarum ssp. Barbuda

Ammodramus savannarum ssp. ‘Barbuda’

Barbudan Grasshopper Sparrow (Ammodramus savannarum ssp.)

The Grasshopper Sparrow (Ammodramus savannarum (J. F. Gmelin)) is distributed over most of northern America as well as parts of the Caribbean, the species was in fact first described from Jamaica.

The species is known from Barbuda, Antigua and Barbuda, in the Lesser Antilles based on a single complete humerus. [1]

The Caribbean populations of the Grasshopper Sparrow are treated as distinct island-endemic subspecies, thus the remains found on Barbuda most likely represent another, now extinct population that once was restricted to Antigua and Barbuda.

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References:

[1] Gregory K. Pregill; David W. Steadman; David R. Watters: Late Quaternary vertebrate faunas of the Lesser Antilles: historical components of Caribbean biogeography. Bulletin of Carnegie Museum of Natural History 30: 1-51. 1994

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edited: 17.02.2020