GAP Analysis Predicted Distribution Map

Lincoln's Sparrow (Melospiza lincolnii)

Species Code: MELI

Legend:
= Core Habitat
= Marginal Habitat

Breeding Range Map
The green area shows the predicted habitats for breeding only. The habitats were identified using 1991 satellite imagery, Breeding Bird Atlas (BBA), other datasets and experts throughout the state, as part of the Washington Gap Analysis Project. Habitats used during non-breeding months and migratory rest-stops were not mapped.

Metadata (Data about data or how the map was made)

Click to enlarge distribution map

Map with Breeding Bird Atlas records

Other maps & Information:

Breeding Bird Atlas
NatureMapping observations
during breeding season
NatureMapping observations
throughout the year

The Lincoln's Sparrow is common at high elevations in sub-alpine bogs, swamps, marshes, and moist meadows. It is generally not found breeding below 3000 feet. It is limited to the Cascades, Blue Mountains, and northeastern mountains. Good habitat in core zones included forest openings and clearings, and wetlands above the Western Hemlock zone (west side) and above the Interior Grand Fir zone (east side), in the Cascades, Blue Mountains, and northeastern mountains. Forests were included as contingently suitable, i.e., suitable if appropriate bogs, meadows, etc. occurred within the larger mapped habitat. Washington breeders represent the northern nominate subspecies M.l.lincolnii (AOU l957). The Lincoln's Sparrow's absence from the Olympics is a curiosity, as it exists in similar habitats throughout the Cascades, with precipitation levels that overlap those of the Olympic Mountains. The distribution of Lincoln's Sparrow is driven by the availability of suitable microhabitats (wetlands) in montane (mountain areas) and sub-alpine forested areas. Suitable habitats generally consist of sub-alpine bogs in sub-alpine forest openings with emergent grassy or shrubby vegetation, especially willows and small birches, and also open, wet meadows at high elevations.

Translated from the Washington Gap Analysis Bird Volume by Uchenna Bright
Text edited by Gussie Litwer
Webpage designed by Dave Lester