This small sparrow breeds in damp northern meadows and shallow marsh edges, then winters in the southeastern United States. It often stays hidden in dense low growth.
Orange-buff stripes frame a grey cheek, and a white stripe runs down the centre of the black crown. The grey nape has fine pink stripes, and the sides are sharply streaked black.
It usually forages alone on or near the ground under dense cover. Its diet is not well known, but Audubon reports that it appears to eat mostly insects in summer and mostly seeds in winter.
An extinction-risk assessment has not been added yet.