The black-striped sparrow is a passerine bird found from eastern Honduras to western Ecuador, northern Brazil, and Venezuela.
Region
Central America and northern South America
Typical Environment
Occurs from eastern Honduras south through Nicaragua, Costa Rica, and Panama into western Ecuador, Colombia, northern Venezuela, and northern Brazil. It favors lowland and foothill areas with dense understory, including second growth, thickets, scrubby forest edges, overgrown fields, and plantations. Often near watercourses and along roadsides with tangled cover. It generally avoids the interior of mature closed-canopy forest, preferring semi-open, brushy habitats.
Altitude Range
Sea level to 1500 m
Climate Zone
Tropical
Ease of Keeping
Beginner friendly: 1/5
A skulking ground-forager of dense thickets and secondary growth, the black-striped sparrow is often heard before it is seen. Its bold black head stripes and heavy conical bill help separate it from similar olive sparrows. It usually forages in pairs or small family groups and builds a domed nest low to the ground. Several subspecies vary subtly in hue across Central and northern South America.
Temperament
shy and skulking
Flight Pattern
short rapid wingbeats, low flights between cover
Social Behavior
Often seen in pairs or small family groups, maintaining territories in dense cover. Nests are typically domed or globular and placed low in grass tussocks or shrubs. During breeding, pairs are notably territorial; outside of breeding they may join loose mixed flocks at edges.
Migratory Pattern
Resident
Song Description
Song is a series of clear, whistled phrases that may accelerate or rise slightly, often delivered from low perches within cover. Calls include sharp chips and metallic tinks, used frequently while foraging in dense vegetation.
