Massachusetts Breeding Bird Atlas 1
Atlas 1 data collected from 1975-1979

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Lincoln's Sparrow
Melospiza lincolnii

Egg Dates:
Number of broods:

Although the Lincoln’s Sparrow nests in southern Vermont and in the central and western Adirondacks in New York, the five known breeding records of the Lincoln’s Sparrow in Massachusetts place the Bay State at or very near the southernmost extremity of the breeding range in eastern North America. Even though they were not found during the MBBA, Lincoln’s Sparrows were “confirmed” breeding for the first time in the state in Florida, Berkshire County, during June and July 1981 (Stemple 1981). Subsequent breeding confirmation at the Florida location was obtained in 1993 and 1994, and nesting was also proven at the Moran Wildlife Management Area, Windsor, Berkshire County, in 1996 and 1998.

Lincoln’s Sparrows are uncommon spring and fall migrants throughout Massachusetts and are very rare in early winter, seemingly appearing with increasing frequency on Christmas Bird Counts.

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Copyright © 2003 edited by Wayne R. Petersen and W. Roger Meservey. Published by the Massachusetts Audubon Society. Distributed by the University of Massachusetts Press, P.O. Box 429, Amherst, Massachusetts 01004-0429.

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