 Breeding evidence |
 Relative abundance |
 Probability of observation |
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Click on plot to view table of mean abundance
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Number of squares
Long-term BBS trends
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-1.61 (-2.42 - -0.822)|
Mean abundance (number of birds detected per 5 min. point count) and percentage of squares occupied by region Bird Conservation Regions [abund. plot]
[%squares plot]
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Atlas Results
Vesper Sparrows were found in 1,806 atlas squares. Largely a sparrow of the prairies, it was also occasionally found in open upland areas in the boreal forest. The two most northerly records both involve multiple singing birds heard on point counts in sparse upland jack pine (Pinus banksiana) stands. Vesper Sparrows reached their greatest relative abundance in the southwest in the Cypress Uplands and Mixed Grassland ecoregions. Probability of observation was high south of the boreal forest fringe for this open habitat generalist.
Excerpts Adapted from the Birds of Saskatchewan:
"Most prairie dwellers will argue that the Vesper is the most melodious of the common sparrows? (Roy 1996). It was named for its habit of singing its "sweet plaintive notes? (Callin 1980) in the early evening, although during the nesting season the male soloists don't confine themselves to that time of day. Breeding throughout most of the northern US and southern Canada, Vesper Sparrows winter in the southern US and northern Mexico (AOU 1983).
In southern Saskatchewan, Vesper
Vesper Sparrows are common throughout south and central Saskatchewan, restricted to the vicinity of agricultural clearings and settlements in the southern boreal region, and increasingly scarce in the Athabasca Sand Dunes and at Wollaston Lake (Smith 1996).
Original text by Joan Feather. Text adapted by Daniel J. Sawatzky
Read more about the Vesper Sparrow in the Birds of Saskatchewan here.
Recommended citation: Latremouille, L. M. 2025. Vesper Sparrow in Latremouille, L. M., S. L. Van Wilgenburg, C. B. Jardine, D. Lepage, A. R. Couturier, D. Evans, D. Iles, and K. L. Drake (eds.). 2025. The Atlas of the Breeding Birds of Saskatchewan, 2017-2021. Birds Canada. Saskatoon, Saskatchewan https://sk.birdatlas.ca/accounts/speciesaccount.jsp?sp=VESP&lang=en [14 Nov 2025]
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