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| Black-striped sparrow | |
|---|---|
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| AtCordillera de Talamanca, Costa Rica | |
Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Aves |
| Order: | Passeriformes |
| Family: | Passerellidae |
| Genus: | Arremonops |
| Species: | A. conirostris |
| Binomial name | |
| Arremonops conirostris (Bonaparte, 1850) | |
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Theblack-striped sparrow (Arremonops conirostris) is apasserinebird found from easternHonduras to westernEcuador, northernBrazil, andVenezuela.
ThisAmerican sparrow is a common bird in humid lowlands and foothills up to 1,500 m (4,900 ft) altitude, in semiopen habitats such as thickets, young second growth, overgrown fields, shady plantations, and gardens.
The large, domed nest, built by the female, is made of coarse plant material and has a wide side entrance. It is normally placed less than 1 m (3.3 ft) up in dense growth, but may be as high as 1.8 m (5.9 ft). The clutch is two, rarely three, unmarked white eggs, which are incubated by the female alone for 12–14 days before hatching.
The black-striped sparrow is a mainly terrestrial species, 16.5 cm (6.5 in) long and weighing 37.5 g (1.32 oz). The adult is distinctive, with a grey head which has broad black stripes each side of the crown and narrower black stripes through each eye. The upperparts are olive, with yellow on the bend of the wing. The underparts are dull white shading to grey on the breast sides and to olive on the lower belly. Young birds have brown stripes on a yellower head, brownish-olive upperparts and yellow-olive underparts.
This species resembles theolive sparrow, but is larger, and the ranges do not overlap. The seven subspecies are:[2]
The black-striped sparrow has a metallicchurk call. The male's song, given from the ground or a low perch, consists of a whistles and slurred notes,tsweet-tsweet tsweet-tswee ti-ti-ti, followed by a trill, but varies geographically.
The black-striped sparrow feeds oninsects,spiders, and seeds taken on the ground, and also picks berries and invertebrate prey from low bushes. It is seen in pairs, never in flocks, and is a shy and retiring species.
