Habitat
Breeds in subalpine and montane zones in boggy, willow-, sedge-, and moss- dominated habitats (Ammon 1995). At lower elevations, also prefers mesic willow shrubs, but can be found in mixed deciduous wood groves, such as aspen and cottonwoods, mixed shrub-willows, black spruce-tamarack bogs, as well as a variety of other riparian habitat types (Salt 1957, Erskine 1977, Ewert 1982, Douglas et al. 1992, Dobkin 1994, M. L. Cody pers. comm. in Ammon 1995). Also inhabits regenerating burns, logged areas, floodplain forests, and avalanche slopes (Campbell et al. 2001). In B.C., nesting has been reported from sea level to 1,300 and singing males have been reported at 1,700 m (Campbell et al. 2001).
References
Ammon, E. M. 1995. Lincoln’s Sparrow (Melospiza linocolnii). In The Birds of North America, Vol.5, No. 191 (A. Poole and F. Gill, Eds.). Philadelphia: The Academy of Natural Sciences; Washington, D.C.: The American Ornithologists’ Union.
Campbell, R. W., N. K. Dawe, I. McTaggart-Cowan, J. M. Cooper, G. W. Kaiser, A. C. Stewart, and M. C. E. McNall. 2001. The Birds of British Columbia. Volume 4. Passerines: wood-warblers through Old World sparrows. University of British Columbia Press, Vancouver. 739 pages.
Cotter, P. A. and B. A. Andres. 2000. Breeding bird habitat associations on the Alaska Breeding Bird Survey: USGS, Biological Resources Division Information and Technology Report USGS/BRD/ITR-2000- 0010, 53 p.
Dobkin, D.S. 1994. Conservation and management of neotropical migrant landbirds in the northern Rockies and Great Plains. High Desert Ecological Research Institute, Bend, OR. University of Idaho Press, Moscow, ID.
Douglas, D.C., J.T. Ratti, R. A. Black, and J.R. Alldredge. 1992. Avian habitat associations in riparian zones of Idaho’s Centennial Mountains. Wilson Bulletin 104:485-500.
Erskine, A. J. 1977. Birds in boreal Canada. Report 41. Canadian Wildlife Service, Ottawa, Ontario. Ewert, D. 1982. Birds in isolated bogs in central Michigan. Am. Midl. Nat. 108: 41-50.
Salt, G. W. 1957. An analysis of avifaunas in the Teton Mountains and Jackson Hole, Wyoming. Condor 59: 373-393.
