- Melozone kieneri
Identification
15–17·5 cm (6-6¾ in)
- Dark forehead
- Greyish fore-crown
- Rusty hind-crown, nape and neck sides
- Dark breast spot
- Olive-green upperparts
- Whitish underparts
- White eye ring
Distribution
Endemic to western Mexico, from southern Sonora to northwestern Oaxaca.
Taxonomy
Subspecies
There are 3 subspecies[1]:
- M. k. grisior:
- Arid Pacific slope of north-western Mexico (south-eastern Sonora and north-eastern Sinaloa)
- M. k. kieneri:
- Arid western Mexico (Sinaloa, western Durango, Nayarit, western Jalisco, Colima)
- M. k. rubricata:
- Arid south-western Mexico (Michoacán, Puebla, Morelos, Guerrero, Oaxaca)
Habitat
Dry thorn forests,high-altitude shrub-land and oak woods.
Behaviour
Diet
They forage on on near the ground for seeds and arthropods.
Breeding
The substantial cup nest is formed from grass and dried leaves.
References
- Clements, J. F., T. S. Schulenberg, M. J. Iliff, D. Roberson, T. A. Fredericks, B. L. Sullivan, and C. L. Wood. 2015. The eBird/Clements checklist of birds of the world: v2015, with updates to August 2015. Downloaded from http://www.birds.cornell.edu/clementschecklist/download/
- Handbook of the Birds of the World Alive (retrieved April 2016)
Recommended Citation
- BirdForum Opus contributors. (2021) Rusty-crowned Ground Sparrow. In: BirdForum, the forum for wild birds and birding. Retrieved 29 April 2021 from https://www.birdforum.net/wiki/Rusty-crowned_Ground_Sparrow
