The little brown sparrow who sings of lost prairies

Brown, white, and speckled with black and gray streaks, the Oregon Vesper Sparrow blends into its grasslands environment. Despite the resemblance to my own last name, I hadn’t heard of these little songbirds until Washington recommended adding them to the state’s endangered species list in late May.

Recent counts indicate only 300-some Oregon Vesper Sparrows are in our state during breeding season; nearly all are in Pierce and Thurston counties.

The Oregon Vesper Sparrow is a subspecies of the Vesper Sparrow, found widely across the U.S. Weighing in at a single ounce, they’re adorably the only member of their taxonomic genus, Pooecetes (meaning grass dweller).

“Vesper” comes from the twilight hours they sing — marked in past times by the monastic prayer called vespers (though they do call during the day as well). They primarily breed in western Washington and western Oregon from April to September.

According to the Cornell Lab of Ornithology website All About Birds, the streaky brown sparrow has a thin white eye-ring and flashes white tail feathers in flight; its song is described as “a sweet series of musical slurs and trills” at dusk.

Tale of lost prairies

However, the significants of this species is how quickly it responds to changes in habitat. This makes it an indicator of grassland habitat’s health — or the loss of the habitat altogether. According to the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife (WDFW), large-scale loss of native prairie habitat has “likely played a major role in the decades-long decline of the population.”

Historically, the Oregon Vesper Sparrow occupied breeding locations spanning from southwestern British Columbia down to the southern Puget lowlands. They nest on the ground, and that makes them vulnerable to predators like cats, skunks and raccoons — as well as agricultural mowing. Loss of habitat to invasive species and the lack of grassfires in the modern era — which once kept prairies open — have also contributed.

Alarms have sounded for the Oregon Vesper Sparrow for years now. The U.S. Committee of the North American Bird Conservation included the species in the 2014 “State of the Birds Watch List.” WDFW wildlife managers are overseeing strategies for prairie protection, banding, and monitoring with local partners, including Joint Base Lewis McChord, American Bird Conservancy, and the Center for Natural Lands Management.

WDFW is tentatively scheduled to report on the endangered species listing in early October, perhaps somewhat ironically after the songbird has left the state for warmer winter climates. The report is also scheduled for review for listing under the Federal Endangered Species Act. In the meantime, the public is welcome to comment on the state’s status report through August 17, 2020.

How did I miss this?

Endangered species listings are more complicated than the loss of a single species. Why didn’t I know the Oregon Vesper Sparrow existed until now, when it’s on the critical cusp of being listed?

In both journalism and marine interpretation, we re-apply Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs. When opening a newspaper, we answer several fundamental questions before anything else: Am I safe? Are my friends and family safe? Our basic safety and physiological needs must be covered first and foremost — this is how humans function. Interpretive programs also start with a seemingly simple checklist: where is the nearest bathroom? What happens if someone gets hurt on the beach?

Only once our human needs are met — if we are able to have them met — can we open our eyes, ears, and heart.

And sometimes our basic needs aren’t easily met. Our attention is drawn elsewhere, be it physiological, safety, or love and belonging. This applies beyond endangered species listings and to the heart of the crises we are all experiencing right now.

This is why I don’t blame anyone — including myself — for not knowing about the Vesper Sparrow. The takeaway is listening, learning, and applying empathy when we can. Blame is only met with more blame, which costs us precious time to figure out how to help our friends, sparrow or not.

For those with the capacity to learn more about what creatures have critical, threatened, and sensitive conservation needs in our state, or to comment on the Oregon Vesper Sparrow’s listing status, WDFW’s website is a great resource.

Carly Vester is a staff member of Harbor Wildwatch. She writes about environmental issues for The Gateway.

This story was originally published June 9, 2020 at 12:00 AM.