The olive sparrow (''Arremonops rufivirgatus'') is a species of

American sparrow New World sparrows are a group of mainly New World passerine birds, forming the family Passerellidae. They are seed-eating birds with conical bills, brown or gray in color, and many species have distinctive head patterns. Although they share t ...

in the family Passerellidae. (Other names include green finch and Texas sparrow.) Its range includes

Belize Belize (; bzj, Bileez) is a Caribbean and Central American country on the northeastern coast of Central America. It is bordered by Mexico to the north, the Caribbean Sea to the east, and Guatemala to the west and south. It also shares a wate ...

Costa Rica Costa Rica (, ; ; literally "Rich Coast"), officially the Republic of Costa Rica ( es, República de Costa Rica), is a country in the Central American region of North America, bordered by Nicaragua to the north, the Caribbean Sea to the no ...

Guatemala Guatemala ( ; ), officially the Republic of Guatemala ( es, República de Guatemala, links=no), is a country in Central America. It is bordered to the north and west by Mexico; to the northeast by Belize and the Caribbean; to the east by H ...

Honduras Honduras, officially the Republic of Honduras, is a country in Central America. The republic of Honduras is bordered to the west by Guatemala, to the southwest by El Salvador, to the southeast by Nicaragua, to the south by the Pacific Oce ...

Mexico Mexico (Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a country in the southern portion of North America. It is bordered to the north by the United States; to the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; to the southeast by Guatema ...

Nicaragua Nicaragua (; ), officially the Republic of Nicaragua (), is the largest country in Central America, bordered by Honduras to the north, the Caribbean to the east, Costa Rica to the south, and the Pacific Ocean to the west. Managua is the cou ...

and southern

Texas Texas (, ; Spanish language, Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2 ...

(including the counties of Val Verde, Atascosa, and

Nueces The Nueces River is a river in the U.S. state of Texas, about long. It drains a region in central and southern Texas southeastward into the Gulf of Mexico. It is the southernmost major river in Texas northeast of the Rio Grande. ''Nueces'' i ...

). It is long, and is the only sparrow with an olive back. It has a prominent brown eye streak and a brown-striped crown, with a

buff Buff or BUFF may refer to: People * Buff (surname), a list of people * Buff (nickname), a list of people * Johnny Buff, ring name of American world champion boxer John Lisky (1888–1955) * Buff Bagwell, a ring name of American professional wr ...

breast, some white belly

feather Feathers are epidermal growths that form a distinctive outer covering, or plumage, on both avian (bird) and some non-avian dinosaurs and other archosaurs. They are the most complex integumentary structures found in vertebrates and a premier ...

s, and a conical beak. The sexes are similar, while the juvenile is more buff with some streaking on the belly. The olive sparrow looks similar to the

green-tailed towhee The green-tailed towhee (''Pipilo chlorurus'') is the smallest towhee, but is still one of the larger members of the American sparrow family Passerellidae. Its breeding range covers most of the interior Western United States, with a winter range ...

but is smaller and lacks a rusty cap. The olive sparrow does not

migrate Migration, migratory, or migrate may refer to: Human migration * Human migration, physical movement by humans from one region to another ** International migration, when peoples cross state boundaries and stay in the host state for some minimum le ...

, and is resident in thickets,

chaparral Chaparral ( ) is a shrubland plant community and geographical feature found primarily in the U.S. state of California, in southern Oregon, and in the northern portion of the Baja California Peninsula in Mexico. It is shaped by a Mediterranean c ...

, and undergrowth near

forest A forest is an area of land dominated by trees. Hundreds of definitions of forest are used throughout the world, incorporating factors such as tree density, tree height, land use, legal standing, and ecological function. The United Nations' ...

s, from sea level to . Males sing unmusical ''chip'' notes similar to the

swamp sparrow The swamp sparrow (''Melospiza georgiana'') is a medium-sized New World sparrow related to the song sparrow. Description Measurements: * Length: 4.7-5.9 in (12-15 cm) * Weight: 0.5-0.8 oz (15-23 g) * Wingspan: 7.1-7.5 in (18-19 cm) ...

. The nest is built two to five feet above ground, and is large, made of straws, twigs, bark, leaves, and stems. Two to five eggs are laid each season (March to September) and are white and unspotted.

References

*Terres, John. K. ''The Audubon Society Encyclopedia of North American Birds'', New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1980. .

*Gallegos TL. M.S. (2001). ''Patterns of avian productivity indices at Santa Ana National Wildlife Refuge (1995-1999)''. The University of Texas - Pan American, United States, Texas. *Hathcock CR. M.S. (2000). ''Factors affecting reproductive success in hosts of the bronzed cowbird (Molothrus aeneus) in the lower Rio Grande Valley, Texas''. The University of Texas - Pan American, United States, Texas. *Wright PG. M.S. (1996). ''A comparison of secondary successional woody vegetation in two revegetated fields in South Texas and an assessment of habitat use by the olive sparrow, Arremonops rufivirgatus''. The University of Texas - Pan American, United States, Texas.

Articles

*Lazcano D, Garcia-De la Pena C, Gamaliel Castaneda G & Gonzalez-Rojas I. (2005). ''Drymarchon corais (indigo snake). Diet''. Herpetological Review. vol 36, no 2. *Parkes KC. (1974). ''Variation in the Olive Sparrow in the Yucatan Peninsula''. Wilson Bulletin. vol 86, no 3. p. 293-295. *Vega JH & Rappole JH. (1994). ''Effects of scrub mechanical treatment on the nongame bird community in the Rio Grande Plain of Texas''. Wildlife Society Bulletin. vol 22, no 2. p. 165-171. *Zink RM, Weller SJ & Blackwell RC. (1998). ''Molecular phylogenetics of the avian genus Pipilo and a biogeographic argument for taxonomic uncertainty''. Molecular Phylogenetics & Evolution. vol 10, no 2. p. 191-201. {{Taxonbar, from=Q2669759

olive sparrow The olive sparrow (''Arremonops rufivirgatus'') is a species of American sparrow in the family Passerellidae. (Other names include green finch and Texas sparrow.) Its range includes Belize, Costa Rica, Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico, Nicaragua and s ...

Birds of Central America Birds of the Rio Grande valleys Birds of the Yucatán Peninsula Birds of Belize Birds of Nicaragua

References

Further reading

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Theses

Articles