Artemisiospiza nevadensis
Status: Rare casual fall visitor.
Documentation: Photograph: 19 Aug 2025 Exit 1 on I-80, Kimball Co (Michael Willison; Brogie 2026).
Taxonomy: Former Sage Sparrow (Amphispiza belli) consisted of two subspecies groups, coastal belli and interior nevadensis, but genetic studies by Cicero & Johnson (2007) led to Chesser et al (2013) elevating each group to species status and assigning them to genus Artemisiospiza as Bell’s Sparrow (Art. belli) and Sagebrush Sparrow (Art. nevadensis).
No subspecies are recognized for Sagebrush Sparrow (AviList 2025).
Fall: There are two records:
6 Aug 1989 one mile below Coffee Park, Sioux Co (Stage and Stage 1990, Grenon 1990)
19 Aug 2025 Exit 1 on I-80, Kimball Co (Michael Willison; Brogie 2026).
The first state record was an adult that flew from an area of sagebrush beside the road and was observed at about 50 feet distance on top of brush 10-13 feet high. Since this was an adult, the suggestion of its being an immature Black-throated Sparrow (Grzybowski 1990) seems unlikely. The second was a sub-adult photographed in Kimball Co (Willison, eBird.org).
A report of an adult at the gate of pasture 245 of the Oglala National Grassland, Sioux Co, was not accepted by the NOURC (no date given, Jorgensen 2003), and a “possible” was reported 15 May 2008 north of Crescent Lake NWR, Garden Co. A report of five on the Agate Fossil Beds NM Nature Trail, Sioux Co 9 Jun 1987 (eBird.org) lacked identification details. See Comments.
Comments: The only two records for South Dakota are in May in the extreme southwestern corner of the state (Tallman et al 2002), and there are “a few summer reports” in Goshen and Niobrara Cos, Wyoming, which border on northwest Nebraska (Faulkner 2010). eBird (eBird.org, accessed Dec 2023) shows subsequent records for Laramie Co, Wyoming 20 Apr 2020, and for northeastern Colorado three records 4-16 May in Weld and Lincoln Cos. Sagebrush Sparrow occurs as a migrant, mostly in Apr, along the foothills on the eastern Colorado plains (Andrews and Righter 1992). A disjunct breeding population in the Wyoming Black Hills (Martin et al 2025) may be a source for some of these records.
Images
Abbreviations
NM: National Monument
NOURC: Nebraska Ornithologists’ Union Records Committee
NWR: National Wildlife Refuge
Literature Cited
Andrews, R., and R. Righter. 1992. Colorado birds. Denver Museum of Natural History, Denver, Colorado, USA.
AviList Core Team, 2025. AviList: The Global Avian Checklist, v2025. https://doi.org/10.2173/avilist.v2025.
Brogie, M.A. 2026. 2025 (37th) Report of the NOU Records Committee. NBR 94: 69-75.
Chesser, R.T., R.C. Banks, F.K. Barker, C. Cicero, J. L. Dunn, A.W. Kratter, I.J. Lovette, P.C. Rasmussen, J.V. Remsen, Jr., J.D. Rising, D.F. Stotz, and K. Winker. 2013. Fifty-Fourth Supplement to the American Ornithologists’ Union Check-list of North American Birds. The Auk 130: 558–571. https://doi.org/10.1525/auk.2013.130.3.1.
Faulkner, D.W. 2010. Birds of Wyoming. Roberts and Company, Greenwood Village, Colorado, USA.
Grenon, A.G. 1990. 1990 (Third) Report of the NOU Records Committee. NBR 58: 90-97.
Grzybowski, J.A. 1990. Southern Great Plains Region. American Birds 44: 114-117.
Jorgensen, J.G. 2003. 2001 (13th) Report of the NOU Records Committee. NBR 71: 97-102.
Martin, J.W., B.A. Carlson, and C. Cicero. 2025. Sagebrush Sparrow (Artemisiospiza nevadensis), version 1.1. In Birds of the World (A. F. Poole and M. D. Medler, Editors). Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Ithaca, NY, USA. https://doi.org/10.2173/bow.sagspa1.01.1.
Stage, D., and L. Stage. 1990. Sage Sparrow in Sioux County. NBR 58: 27-28.
Tallman, D.A., Swanson, D.L., and J.S. Palmer. 2002. Birds of South Dakota. Midstates/Quality Quick Print, Aberdeen, South Dakota, USA.
Recommended Citation
Silcock, W.R., and J.G. Jorgensen. 2026. Sagebrush Sparrow (Artemisiospiza nevadensis). In Birds of Nebraska — Online. www.BirdsofNebraska.org
Birds of Nebraska – Online
Updated 28 Aug 2026