The Olive Sparrow, Arremonops rufivirgatus, is a species of American sparrow

American sparrow

American sparrows are a group of mainly New World passerine birds, forming part of the family Emberizidae. American sparrows are seed-eating birds with conical bills, brown or gray in color, and many species have distinctive head patterns....

 in the family Emberizidae

Emberizidae

The Emberizidae are a large family of passerine birds. They are seed-eating birds with a distinctively shaped bill.In Europe, most species are called buntings. In North America, most of the species in this family are known as sparrows, but these birds are not closely related to the sparrows, the...

. (Other names include "Green Finch" and "Texas Sparrow".) Its range includes Belize

Belize

Belize is a constitutional monarchy and the northernmost country in Central America. Belize has a diverse society, comprising many cultures and languages. Even though Kriol and Spanish are spoken among the population, Belize is the only country in Central America where English is the official...

, Costa Rica

Costa Rica

Costa Rica , officially the Republic of Costa Rica is a multilingual, multiethnic and multicultural country in Central America, bordered by Nicaragua to the north, Panama to the southeast, the Pacific Ocean to the west and the Caribbean Sea to the east....

, Guatemala

Guatemala

Guatemala is a country in Central America bordered by Mexico to the north and west, the Pacific Ocean to the southwest, Belize to the northeast, the Caribbean to the east, and Honduras and El Salvador to the southeast...

, Honduras

Honduras

Honduras is a republic in Central America. It was previously known as Spanish Honduras to differentiate it from British Honduras, which became the modern-day state of Belize...

, Mexico

Mexico

The United Mexican States , commonly known as Mexico , is a federal constitutional republic in North America. It is bordered on the north by the United States; on the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; on the southeast by Guatemala, Belize, and the Caribbean Sea; and on the east by the Gulf of...

, Nicaragua

Nicaragua

Nicaragua is the largest country in the Central American American isthmus, bordered by Honduras to the north and Costa Rica to the south. The country is situated between 11 and 14 degrees north of the Equator in the Northern Hemisphere, which places it entirely within the tropics. The Pacific Ocean...

 and southern Texas

Texas

Texas is the second largest U.S. state by both area and population, and the largest state by area in the contiguous United States.The name, based on the Caddo word "Tejas" meaning "friends" or "allies", was applied by the Spanish to the Caddo themselves and to the region of their settlement in...

 (including the counties of Val Verde

Val Verde County, Texas

Val Verde County is a county located on the Edwards Plateau in the U.S. state of Texas. In 2008, estimated population was 55,000. Its county seat is Del Rio. In 1936, Val Verde County received Recorded Texas Historic Landmark number 5625 to commemorate its founding.Val Verde, which means "green...

, Atascosa, and Nueces).

It is 14–15.5 cm (5.5–6.1 ) long, and is the only sparrow with an olive back. It has a prominent brown eye streak and a brown-striped crown, with a buffy breast, some white belly feather

Feather

Feathers are one of the epidermal growths that form the distinctive outer covering, or plumage, on birds and some non-avian theropod dinosaurs. They are considered the most complex integumentary structures found in vertebrates, and indeed a premier example of a complex evolutionary novelty. They...

s, and a conical beak. The sexes are similar, while the juvenile is buffier with some streaking on the belly. The Olive Sparrow looks similar to the Green-tailed Towhee

Green-tailed Towhee

The Green-tailed Towhee, Pipilo chlorurus, is the smallest towhee, but is still one of the larger members of the "American sparrow" family Emberizidae....

 but is smaller and lacks a rusty cap.

The Olive Sparrow does not migrate

Bird migration

Bird migration is the regular seasonal journey undertaken by many species of birds. Bird movements include those made in response to changes in food availability, habitat or weather. Sometimes, journeys are not termed "true migration" because they are irregular or in only one direction...

, and is resident in thickets, chaparral

Chaparral

Chaparral is a shrubland or heathland plant community found primarily in the U.S. state of California and in the northern portion of the Baja California peninsula, Mexico...

, and undergrowth

Undergrowth

Undergrowth usually refers to the vegetation in a forest, which can obstruct passage through the forest. The height of undergrowth is usually considered to be 0.3 – 3 m . Undergrowth can also refer all vegetation in a forest, which isn't in the canopy....

 near forest

Forest

A forest, also referred to as a wood or the woods, is an area with a high density of trees. As with cities, depending where you are in the world, what is considered a forest may vary significantly in size and have various classification according to how and what of the forest is composed...

s, from sea level to 6000 feet (1,828.8 m). Males sing unmusical chip notes similar to the Swamp Sparrow

Swamp Sparrow

The Swamp Sparrow is a medium-sized sparrow related to the Song Sparrow.Adults have streaked rusty, buff and black upperparts with a gray breast, light belly and a white throat. The wings are strikingly rusty. Most males and a few females have a rust-colored caps. Their face is gray with a dark...

.

The nest

Bird nest

A bird nest is the spot in which a bird lays and incubates its eggs and raises its young. Although the term popularly refers to a specific structure made by the bird itself—such as the grassy cup nest of the American Robin or Eurasian Blackbird, or the elaborately woven hanging nest of the...

 is built two to five feet above ground, and is large, made of straws, twigs, bark, leaves, and stems. Two to five eggs

Bird egg

Bird eggs are laid by females and incubated for a time that varies according to the species; a single young hatches from each egg. Average clutch sizes range from one to about 17...

are laid each season (March to September) and are white and unspotted.

Books

• Brush, T. 1998. Olive Sparrow (Arremonops rufivirgatus). In The Birds of North America, No. 325 (A. Poole and F. Gill, eds.). The Birds of North America, Inc., Philadelphia, PA.

Theses

• Gallegos TL. M.S. (2001). Patterns of avian productivity indices at Santa Ana National Wildlife Refuge (1995-1999). The University of Texas - Pan American, United States, Texas.
• Hathcock CR. M.S. (2000). Factors affecting reproductive success in hosts of the bronzed cowbird (Molothrus aeneus) in the lower Rio Grande Valley, Texas. The University of Texas - Pan American, United States, Texas.
• Wright PG. M.S. (1996). A comparison of secondary successional woody vegetation in two revegetated fields in South Texas and an assessment of habitat use by the olive sparrow, Arremonops rufivirgatus. The University of Texas - Pan American, United States, Texas.

Articles

• Lazcano D, Garcia-De la Pena C, Gamaliel Castaneda G & Gonzalez-Rojas I. (2005). Drymarchon corais (indigo snake). Diet. Herpetological Review. vol 36, no 2.
• Parkes KC. (1974). Variation in the Olive Sparrow in the Yucatan Peninsula. Wilson Bulletin. vol 86, no 3. p. 293-295.
• Vega JH & Rappole JH. (1994). Effects of scrub mechanical treatment on the nongame bird community in the Rio Grande Plain of Texas. Wildlife Society Bulletin. vol 22, no 2. p. 165-171.
• Zink RM, Weller SJ & Blackwell RC. (1998). Molecular phylogenetics of the avian genus Pipilo and a biogeographic argument for taxonomic uncertainty. Molecular Phylogenetics & Evolution. vol 10, no 2. p. 191-201.