The fledglings start to molt in late August and 

 are almost identical to adults by November. The 

 postnuptial molt of adults begins in August and 

 concludes by October. The light edges of the con- 

 tour feathers wear off during the winter and 

 produce the dark nuptial plumage (Trost 1968). 



The average longevity is unknown, but an 

 adult banded in 1972 was seen tv^dce in 1978 (Ba- 

 ker in press). 



A color plate of a fledgling appears in Trost 

 (1968), and black and white photographs of eggs 

 and nestlings, in Baynard (1914) and Nicholson 

 (1928). 



MANAGEMENT AND CONSERVATION 



The conflict between mosquito control and 

 the dusky 's stringent habitat requirements has 

 made conservation extremely difficult. Attempts 

 to recover the dusky on Merritt Island have in- 

 cluded lowering impoundment water levels, con- 

 necting an impoundment to the Indian River by a 

 culvert, and removal of a 3,000-m dike. The high 

 water levels and consequent vegetation changes, 

 such as shrub encroachment, have prevented these 

 measures from succeeding so far (DSSRT draft, 

 Baker, in press). 



Management of the mainland dusky popula- 

 tion involves primarily land acquisition and con- 

 trolled burning. On the St. Johns National Wild- 

 life Refuge, destructive winter wildfires now are 

 checked by firebreaks maintained by refuge per- 

 sonnel. Experiments to control brush encroach- 

 ment include small prescribed bums, summer 

 burning, and herbicide use. A refuge addition of 

 1,320 ha in the vicinity of the Beeline Highway is 

 under negotiation (Baker, in press). 



In addition, the Recovery Team calls for the 

 determination of habitat requirements, refining of 

 habitat manipulation techniques, population 

 monitoring by annual survey, and restoration of 

 habitat such as that on Merritt Island (DSSRT 

 draft). 



The 1978 survey documented 9 singing males 

 on the St. Johns National Wildlife Refuge and 15 

 in the rest of the river basin. Most of those out- 

 side the refuge inhabit the area of a proposed 

 refuge addition between the forks of the Beeline 

 Highway (Baker, in press). 



Critical Habitat is designated as the mainland 

 area bounded by 1-95, the St. Johns River, and 

 Florida Highways 45, 528, and 529, and as mos- 

 quito-control impoundments T-IO-J and T-IO-K 

 on Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge (41 FR 

 53074, 3 December 1976; 42 FR 40685, 11 Au- 



gust 1977; 42 FR 47849, 22 September 1977). 



AUTHORITIES 



J. L. Baker (Recovery Team) 



U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service 



Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge 



P.O. Box 6504 



Titusville, FL 32780 



H. W. Kale (Recovery Team) 

 Ornithological Research Division 

 Florida Audubon Society 

 35 1st Court S.W. 

 Vero Beach FL 32960 



B. F. Sharp 



U.S. Fish and WUdlife Service 



Lloyd 500 Building 



500 N.W. Multnomah Street 



Portland, OR 97232 



P. W. Sykes (Recovery Team) 

 Fish and Wildlife Service 

 P.O. Box 2077 

 Del Ray Beach. FL 33440 



L. E. Williams (Recovery Team) 



Wildlife Research Office 



Florida Game and Fresh Water Fish 



Commission 

 4005 South Main Street 

 Gainesville, FL 32601 



PREPARER'S COMMENTS 



The bird was named Ammodromus marttimus 

 var. nigrescens by Ridgway in 1873. It was desig- 

 nated Ammospiza nigrescens by Howell (1932), 

 American Ornithologists' Union (1957), and Trost 

 (1968). It was redesignated as a race of ^mmoipzza 

 maritima (Eisenmann 1973). It is geographically 

 isolated from, but morphologically similar to, 

 other races of seaside sparrow (Trost 1968). It is 

 unique in its extremely limited distribution (Chap- 

 man 1912). 



LITERATURE CITED/SELECTED 

 REFERENCES 



American Ornithologists' Union. 1957. Check-list 

 of North American birds. 5th ed. Port City 

 Press, Baltimore. 641 pp. 



Baker, J. L. 1973. Preliminary studies of the 

 dusky seaside sparrow on the St. Johns Na- 

 tional Wildlife Refuge. Proc. Annu. Conf. 

 Southeast Assoc. Game Fish Comm. 27:207- 

 214. 



