Olive Sparrow

Arremonops rufivirgatus

Least Concern · IUCN Red List

LCLeast ConcernOmnivoreWoodlandDomed nestSmall · 22 g

What the Olive Sparrow sounds like

Sonogram of the Olive Sparrow: time runs left to right, pitch bottom to top, and the brighter the mark the louder the sound.
Recorded by steve · Song · Resaca de la Palma State Park, Brownsville, Cameron County, Texas, United States · CC BY-SA 4.0 · via xeno-canto

ID tip

The olive sparrow is about 12 to 14 cm (4.7 to 5.5 in) long and weighs 15 to 30 g (0.53 to 1.1 oz). The sexes have the same plumage. Adults of the nominate subspecies have a brown crown with a wide olive gray stripe through its middle and down the nape. They have drab to olive brown lores, a wide buffy gray supercilium, and a thin brown line through the eye on an otherwise gray face. Their upperparts are uniformly olive. Their tail is brownish olive to olive with light yellowish outer edges on the feathers. Voice: Only the male olive sparrow is believed to sing. Its song is an "accelerating series of somewhat musical, downslurred tsip, chip, or tsew notes, usually dropping in pitch at the end of the series", and has been described "as sounding like a metallic ball bouncing on a concrete floor".

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

When to see the Olive Sparrow

One bar for each month. Filled bars are the 11 months with records; pale bars are months with none. The wide bar is April, the month with the most records.

Where to see the Olive Sparrow

Regular range

The map shades 6 countries with regular records. Everything unshaded has no records. Countries are listed below the map.

About the Olive Sparrow

The olive sparrow is a species of bird in the family Passerellidae, the New World sparrows. It is found from Texas to Costa Rica.

Text adapted from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Easily confused with

Side by side: Lark Bunting vs Olive Sparrow · Black-striped Sparrow vs Olive Sparrow · Green-backed Sparrow vs Olive Sparrow

Learn the Olive Sparrow in the BeakBrain App

Photo and call practice. Coming soon to iPhone and Android.

Play today's Daily Bird

Every photo and recording on this page is credited to its author under the licence shown. Spotted a problem with this page, or have a better photo? Contribute.