Prevost's ground sparrow

Prevost's ground sparrow (Melozone biarcuata), also known as the white-faced ground sparrow, is an American sparrow.

Prevost's ground sparrow
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Aves
Order: Passeriformes
Family: Passerellidae
Genus: Melozone
Species:
M. biarcuata
Binomial name
Melozone biarcuata
(Prévost & DesMurs, 1846)
Synonyms

Melozone biarcuatum

Etymology

Its English name commemorates French naturalist Florent Prévost.[2]

Distribution and habitat

This bird breeds at middle altitudes from southern Mexico to western Honduras. The Cabanis's ground sparrow was previously considered a subspecies. It is found typically at altitudes between 600 and 1600 m in the undergrowth and thickets of semi-open woodland, coffee plantations, hedgerows and large gardens.[3]

Description

Prevost's ground sparrow is on average 15 cm long and weighs 28 g. The adult has a stubby dark-grey bill, unstreaked olive-brown upperparts, a rufous crown and mainly white underparts. Young birds are browner above, have yellower underparts, and a duller indistinct head pattern. It has a simple head pattern in which the rufous of the crown extends down the sides of the neck as a half collar behind the white face.

Behaviour

Usually found in pairs, the bird is a shy species best seen at or near dusk. They sometimes venture in the open in the early morning.[3]

Breeding

The nest, built by the female, is a neat lined cup constructed less than 2 m up in a bush or large tussock. The female lays a clutch of two or three ruddy-blotched white eggs, which she incubates for 12–14 days. The male helps in feeding the chicks. This species is sometimes parasitised by the bronzed cowbird.

Feeding

The bird feeds on the ground on seeds, fallen berries, insects and spiders.

Voice

Calls include a thin tsit or a clearer psee. The male's song, given from a hidden perch in the wet season, is a whistled pst’t’t’t peer peer peer whee whee whee.

References
  1. BirdLife International (2020). "Melozone biarcuata". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. 2020: e.T103776515A136945738. doi:10.2305/IUCN.UK.2020-3.RLTS.T103776515A136945738.en. Retrieved 12 November 2021.
  2. Beolens, Bo; Watkins, Michael (2003). Whose Bird? Men and Women Commemorated in the Common Names of Birds. London: Christopher Helm. pp. 73–74.
  3. "Melozone biarcuata". Neotropical Birds. Cornell University. Retrieved 27 October 2015.
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