The main reason the bird is endangered is because of the loss of more than 85 percent of Florida's prairie land, which is the only place the sparrow lives. Efforts have been made to conserve the bird's remaining population, but figures continue to drop rapidly. There are only three reserves where the bird can be found, and numbers have dropped in all three. For example, in Kissimmee Prairie Preserve State Park, the number of males dropped from 150 in 2002 to just 14 in 2012. In 2012, only a single male was found in the Avon Park Bombing Range. With so few birds remaining, there is now the additional risk of genetic mutation as a result of inbreeding.