The stripe-headed sparrow (''Peucaea ruficauda'') 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 t ...

which breeds from

Pacific The Pacific Ocean is the largest and deepest of Earth's five oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Southern Ocean (or, depending on definition, to Antarctica) in the south, and is bounded by the continen ...

coastal south-western

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 ...

, including the transverse ranges,

Cordillera Neovolcanica A cordillera is an extensive chain and/or network system of mountain ranges, such as those in the west coast of the Americas. The term is borrowed from Spanish, where the word comes from , a diminutive of ('rope'). The term is most commonly u ...

to Pacific coastal northern

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 ...

. This common bird is found in lowlands up to in altitude in the north of its range, and in Costa Rica. Its habitat is brushy savannah, scrubby second growth and woodland edges, but it avoids the forest interior. The nest, built by the female, is a deep

cup A cup is an open-top used to hold hot or cold liquids for pouring or drinking; while mainly used for drinking, it also can be used to store solids for pouring (e.g., sugar, flour, grains, salt). Cups may be made of glass, metal, china, clay, ...

of plant material lined with fine grass or horsehair. It is constructed less than above the ground in an isolated spiny scrub. The female lays two to four unmarked pale blue

eggs Humans and human ancestors have scavenged and eaten animal eggs for millions of years. Humans in Southeast Asia had domesticated chickens and harvested their eggs for food by 1,500 BCE. The most widely consumed eggs are those of fowl, especial ...

, which she incubates for 12–14 days. The whole group helps in feeding the chicks, and roost together in a tight group at night. The stripe-headed sparrow is a large, long-tailed species, long and weighing up to . The adult has a black head with broad white stripes on the crown and above each eye. The nape is narrowly grey and the rest of the upperparts are pale brown, streaked with black on the back, but unstreaked and more

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 ...

on the rump and tail. The shoulders are

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 dia ...

and the wing feathers have buff edging. The throat and underparts are white, becoming buff on the flanks and with a grey breast. Young birds have a duller, indistinct head pattern, with buff stripes and a brown ground colour, and have streaked breasts. There are four subspecies, which, in general, become larger and brighter from north to south. Thus the northernmost form, ''P. r. acuminata '', is smaller than the nominate Costa Rican subspecies ''P. r. ruficauda'', which has duller, browner upperparts, and paler, whiter underparts. The stripe-headed sparrow has a group vocalisation of chattering squeaks. The male's song, given from an open perch, consists of dry thin notes, but shows geographical variation. The subspecies ''P. r. ruficauda'' has a dry trill, while ''P. r. acuminata'' has a series of ''pechew'' double notes. The stripe-headed sparrow feeds on the ground mainly on grass seeds, but also takes some small

insect Insects (from Latin ') are pancrustacean hexapod invertebrates of the class Insecta. They are the largest group within the arthropod phylum. Insects have a chitinous exoskeleton, a three-part body ( head, thorax and abdomen), three pairs ...

s and

spider Spiders ( order Araneae) are air-breathing arthropods that have eight legs, chelicerae with fangs generally able to inject venom, and spinnerets that extrude silk. They are the largest order of arachnids and rank seventh in total species ...

s. It is usually in family groups or small flocks of up to seven birds. The flight is low and fluttery, with the tail held low.

References

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External links

Photo
bafrenz.com * * * * {{Taxonbar, from=Q2229881 stripe-headed sparrow Birds of Mexico Birds of Central America Birds of Guatemala Birds of El Salvador Birds of Honduras Birds of Nicaragua Birds of Costa Rica stripe-headed sparrow stripe-headed sparrow