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

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 th ...

Etymology

Its

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Culture, language and peoples * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England * ''English'', an Amish ter ...

name commemorates

French French may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to France ** French language, which originated in France ** French people, a nation and ethnic group ** French cuisine, cooking traditions and practices Arts and media * The French (band), ...

naturalist Natural history is a domain of inquiry involving organisms, including animals, fungi, and plants, in their natural environment, leaning more towards observational than experimental methods of study. A person who studies natural history is cal ...

Florent Prévost Florent Prévost (1794 – 1 February 1870) was a French naturalist and illustrator. Prévost was assistant naturalist at the Muséum National d'Histoire Naturelle. He was the author of various zoological works, including ''Les Pigeons par Madame ...

Distribution and habitat

This bird breeds at middle altitudes from southern

Mexico Mexico, officially the United Mexican States, is a country in North America. It is the northernmost country in Latin America, and borders the United States to the north, and Guatemala and Belize to the southeast; while having maritime boundar ...

to western

Honduras Honduras, officially the Republic of Honduras, is a country in Central America. It is bordered to the west by Guatemala, to the southwest by El Salvador, to the southeast by Nicaragua, to the south by the Pacific Ocean at the Gulf of Fonseca, ...

. 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 Coffee is a beverage brewed from roasted, ground coffee beans. Darkly colored, bitter, and slightly acidic, coffee has a stimulating effect on humans, primarily due to its caffeine content, but decaffeinated coffee is also commercially a ...

plantations, hedgerows and large gardens.

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 Rufous () is a color that may be described as reddish-brown or brownish- red, as of rust or oxidised iron. The first recorded use of ''rufous'' as a color name in English was in 1782. However, the color is also recorded earlier in 1527 as a d ...

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.

Breeding

The nest, built by the female, is a neat lined

cup A cup is an open-top vessel (container) used to hold liquids for drinking, typically with a flattened hemispherical shape, and often with a capacity of about . Cups may be made of pottery (including porcelain), glass, metal, wood, stone, pol ...

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 The bronzed cowbird (''Molothrus aeneus''), once known as the red-eyed cowbird, is a small icterid. They breed from the U.S. states of California, Arizona, New Mexico, Texas, and Louisiana south through Central America to Panama. They tend to be ...

Feeding

The bird feeds on the ground on seeds, fallen berries,

insect Insects (from Latin ') are Hexapoda, hexapod invertebrates of the class (biology), class Insecta. They are the largest group within the arthropod phylum. Insects have a chitinous exoskeleton, a three-part body (Insect morphology#Head, head, ...

s and

spider Spiders (order (biology), order Araneae) are air-breathing arthropods that have eight limbs, chelicerae with fangs generally able to inject venom, and spinnerets that extrude spider silk, silk. They are the largest order of arachnids and ran ...

Voice

Calls include a thin or a clearer . The male's song, given from a hidden perch in the wet season, is a whistled .

References

External links

Photo-High Res
VIREO * ttp://www.birdguatemala.org/bigjpegs/Prevost's_Ground-Sparrow.jpg Photos ttp://www.birdguatemala.org/bridsguate.htm Articlebirdguatemala {{Taxonbar, from=Q1586396

Prevost's ground sparrow Prevost's ground sparrow (''Melozone biarcuata''), also known as the white-faced ground sparrow, is an American sparrow. Etymology Its English name commemorates French naturalist Florent Prévost. Distribution and habitat This bird breeds at ...

Birds of Mexico Birds of Guatemala Birds of El Salvador Birds of Honduras