''Ammodramus'' is a genus of birds in the family

Passerellidae New World sparrows are a group of mainly New World passerine birds, forming the family Passerellidae. They are seed-eating birds with conical bills, brown or gray in color, and many species have distinctive head patterns. Although they share t ...

, in the group known as American sparrows. Birds of this genus are known commonly as grassland sparrows.''Ammodramus''.
Integrated Taxonomic Information System (ITIS) The name ''Ammodramus'' is from the

Greek Greek may refer to: Greece Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group. *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family. **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor ...

for "sand runner". These birds live in

grassland A grassland is an area where the vegetation is dominated by grasses ( Poaceae). However, sedge ( Cyperaceae) and rush ( Juncaceae) can also be found along with variable proportions of legumes, like clover, and other herbs. Grasslands occur na ...

habitat. Some ''Ammodramus'' are socially monogamous and both parents care for the young. Other species are polygynous with no

pair bond In biology, a pair bond is the strong affinity that develops in some species between a mating pair, often leading to the production and rearing of offspring and potentially a lifelong bond. Pair-bonding is a term coined in the 1940s that is freque ...

ing and no paternal care. Several species have been included in this genus, but have been reclassified into the genera ''

Ammospiza ''Ammospiza'' is a genus of birds in the family Passerellidae, in the group known as American sparrows. Species * Seaside sparrow, ''Ammospiza maritima'' ** Dusky seaside sparrow, ''Ammospiza maritima nigrescens'' ( extinct, 1987) ** Cape Sab ...

'' and '' Centronyx'' by sources such as Birdlife International and the

American Ornithological Society The American Ornithological Society (AOS) is an ornithological organization based in the United States. The society was formed in October 2016 by the merger of the American Ornithologists' Union (AOU) and the Cooper Ornithological Society. Its m ...

. Current species in this genus include:

Species

The fossil ''Ammodramus hatcheri'' ( Late Miocene of

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, United States) was formerly placed in genus ''Palaeospiza'' or ''Palaeostruthus''. The former may not be a passeriform at all, while the latter was eventually synonymized with ''Ammodramus'', as ''A. hatcheri'' scarcely differs from the living species.Steadman, D. W., & McKitrick, M. C. (1982)
A Pliocene bunting from Chihuahua, Mexico.
''The Condor'', 84(2), 240-241.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q695679 Bird genera American sparrows Taxa named by William John Swainson