Biology:Black-capped sparrow
| Black-capped sparrow | |
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| File:Arremon abeillei - Black-capped Sparrow XC242117.mp3 | |
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Scientific classification 
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| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Aves |
| Order: | Passeriformes |
| Family: | Passerellidae |
| Genus: | Arremon |
| Species: | A. abeillei
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| Binomial name | |
| Arremon abeillei Lesson, 1844
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The black-capped sparrow (Arremon abeillei) is a species of bird in the family Passerellidae, the New World sparrows. It is found in Ecuador and Peru.[2]
Taxonomy and systematics
The black-capped sparrow was formally described in 1844 with its current binomial Arremon abeillei.[3]
The black-capped sparrow is monotypic.[2] However, what is now the Maranon sparrow (A. nigriceps) was previously treated as a subspecies; taxonomic systems began separating them in 2016.[4] A later study confirmed that the two are sister species.[5]
Description
The black-capped sparrow is about 15 cm (5.9 in) long and weighs about 26 g (0.92 oz). The sexes have the same plumage. Adults have a mostly black head with a white throat and a wide white stripe from above the eye down the side of the nape. They often raise their crown feathers in a shaggy crest. Their upperparts and tail are blue-gray. Their wing coverts are blue-gray; some individuals have small pale tips on them that form two wing bars. Their flight feathers are dusky with blue-gray edges. Their throat is white with a black band below it across the upper breast. Their flanks are gray and the rest of their underparts white. They have a brown iris, a black bill, and black legs and feet.[6]
Distribution and habitat
The black-capped sparrow is found along the Pacific coast from central Manabí Province in Ecuador south into Peru as far as northern Cajamarca Department. However, there is a gap in Ecuador's southern Guayas Province. It primarily inhabits somewhat dry tropical deciduous forest, gallery forest, and scrublands; locally it occurs in more humid evergreen forest especially in Ecuador.[6][7] In Ecuador it ranges in elevation mostly from sea level to 800 m (2,600 ft) but locally reaches 1,600 m (5,200 ft).[7] In Peru it reaches 1,800 m (5,900 ft).[8]
Behavior
Movement
The black-capped sparrow is a year-round resident.[6]
Feeding
The black-capped sparrow's diet has not been studied; it is assumed to include insects, seeds, and fruits. It usually is seen singly or in pairs. It forages on the ground or near it in low vegetation.[6]
Breeding
Nothing is known about the black-capped sparrow's breeding biology.[6]
Vocalization
The black-capped sparrow's song is described as "a fast tseeét, tsi-tsi-tsi-tsi tseeét[7] and as "a variable high series of thin, buzzy whistles and loose trills, for example: tsew tsew tsi-tetetetete"[8]. Its calls are a "very short, high-pitched tsik", a "high-pitched sibilant or lisping descending tseew", and a "high-pitched buzzy bzee". The first two are usually repeated a few times. The species usually sings from a fairly low perch and usually at dawn and the early morning.[6]
Status
The IUCN has assessed the black-capped sparrow as being of Least Concern. Its population size is not known but is believed to be stable. "Due to the species' preference for forests, it is vulnerable to the loss and degradation of habitat, mainly through logging and expansion of agriculture and livestock pastures."[1] It is considered fairly common in both countries in its range.[7][8]
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 BirdLife International (2024). "Black-capped Sparrow Arremon abeillei". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species 2024. doi:10.2305/IUCN.UK.2024-2.RLTS.T103771714A247307083.en. https://www.iucnredlist.org/species/103771714/247307083. Retrieved 9 May 2026.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 Gill, Frank; Donsker, David; Rasmussen, Pamela, eds (April 2026). "New World sparrows". https://www.worldbirdnames.org/new/bow/sparrows//.
- ↑ Lesson, René-Primevère (1844). "Oiseaux nouveaux" (in Latin, French). Revue zoologique (Société cuvierienne): 435. https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/2285066. Retrieved 9 May 2026.
- ↑ BirdLife International (2016) Handbook of the Birds of the World and BirdLife International digital checklist of the birds of the world. [Old] Version 9. Available at: http://datazone.birdlife.org/userfiles/file/Species/Taxonomy/BirdLife_Checklist_Version_90.zip
- ↑ Buainain, N.; Ferreira, M.; Avendaño, J.E.; Cadena, C.D.; Faircloth, B.C.; Brumfield, R.T.; Cracraft, J.; Ribas, C.C. (2022). "Biogeography of a neotropical songbird radiation reveals similar diversification dynamics between montane and lowland clades". Journal of Biogeography 49 (7): 1260-1273. doi:10.1111/jbi.14379.
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 6.2 6.3 6.4 6.5 Schulenberg, T. S., A. Jaramillo, and P. F. D. Boesman (2024). Black-capped Sparrow (Arremon abeillei), version 1.1. In Birds of the World (T. S. Schulenberg and S. M. Billerman, Editors). Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Ithaca, NY, USA. https://doi.org/10.2173/bow.bkcspa1.01.1 retrieved 9 May 2026
- ↑ 7.0 7.1 7.2 7.3 Ridgely, Robert S.; Greenfield, Paul J. (2001). The Birds of Ecuador: Field Guide. II. Ithaca: Cornell University Press. pp. 691. ISBN 978-0-8014-8721-7.
- ↑ 8.0 8.1 8.2 Schulenberg, T.S.; Stotz, D.F.; Lane, D.F.; O'Neill, J.P.; Parker, T.A. III (2010). Birds of Peru. Princeton Field Guides (revised and updated ed.). Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press. pp. 602. ISBN 978-0691130231.
Wikidata ☰ Q3314648 entry
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