From Opus

Alternative name: White-faced Ground-Sparrow

Melozone biarcuatum

Includes Cabanis's Ground-Sparrow

[edit] Identification

15 cm long and weighs 28 g. The bill is dark-grey, the upperparts are olive-brown, the crown is rufous and the underparts are mainly white.

Juveniles are browner above, have yellower underparts, and a duller indistinct head pattern.

The male’s song is a whistled pst’t’t’t peer peer peer whee whee whee.

[edit] Distribution

Southern Mexico to western Honduras and Costa Rica.

[edit] Taxonomy

The Costa Rican form may be a separate species, M. cabanisi (Cabanis's Ground-Sparrow)

[edit] Habitat

Altitudes between 600 and 1600m in the undergrowth and thickets of semi-open woodland, coffee plantations, hedgerows and large gardens.

[edit] Behaviour

The female builds a lined, cup shaped nest, in a bush. She lays 2-3 eggs which are white, blotched with ruddy colour, and she incubates these for 12-14 days. The male helps feed the chicks. The nest is sometimes parasitised by the Bronzed Cowbird.

It is a ground feeder and its diet includes seeds, fallen berries, insects and spiders. It is usually in pairs, but is a shy species best seen at near or dusk.

[edit] External Links