The grasshopper sparrow (Ammodramus savannarum) is a small bird that breeds across the Great Plains and Eastern North America. Since Open Space and Mountain Parks began surveying ground nesting birds, the greatest abundance of nesting grasshopper sparrows in Boulder County has consistently been in the grasslands on Gunbarrel Hill near Lookout Road and 75th Street.
Grasshopper sparrows are identified as a species of greatest conservation need in Colorado, and their populations are in steep decline across their range. They need your help to survive!
Please stay on designated trails and keep dogs close when enjoying the grasslands at Gunbarrel Hill. Grasshopper sparrows and other ground-nesting birds like Western meadowlarks and vesper sparrows are easily disturbed and flushed from their nests, which are so well hidden in the vegetation that they are easy to step on.
Weighing less than half an ounce, these sparrows make a small cup-like nest on the ground among dead grasses. They feed primarily on grasshoppers, shaking the legs off before feeding them to nestlings. Their call is a shrill grasshopper-like buzz that carries across the prairie, although they commonly sing from the ground and can be difficult to see. They return to the Boulder area each year to breed in early summer. On the Gunbarrel Hill grasslands, you can listen for their buzzing call during June and July (listen to an example, below).