STATUS: Uncommon.
HABITAT: Inhabits dry shortgrass prairie, plowed and stubble fields, grazed pastures, dry lake beds, and other sparse, bare, dry grounds on the western plains.
SPECIAL HABITAT REQUIREMENTS: Open, dry, sparsely vegetated prairie.
NEST: Places nest in a shallow depression on the ground, sometimes in a clump of grass or under a shrub, but usually amid sparse prairie vegetation. Typically builds a nest that is open above, covered only by a few blades of grass, although occasionally it may be concealed by overhanging shrub branches. Rarely, places nest above ground in a shrub.
FOOD: Forages on the ground, picking up seeds of weeds and grasses, and insects, especially grasshoppers.
REFERENCES: DuBois 1937, Johnsgard 1979, Kaufman in Farrand 1983c, Kraus in Bent 1968c, Mickey 1943.