Black-capped Sparrow (Arremon abeillei)

Identification & Behavior: ~15 cm (6 in). The Black-capped Sparrow has a gray  (abellei) or olive  (nigriceps) mantle and gray rest of the upperparts. The head is black with broad white superciliary. It has a complete black pectoral band.  The throat and center of the underparts are white bordered by gray on the sides of the belly and flanks. Both sexes have a black bill. It is similar to the Orange-billed Sparrow but is distinguished by gray upperparts and a black bill. Also, see Black-striped Sparrow.

Status: The Black-capped Sparrow is fairly common in the understory of interior humid forest, semi-deciduous and tall scrub habitats on both slopes of the Andes and also in the Marañon Drainage. It is known to range at elevations of up to 1800 m on the foothill of the Andes. It also occurs in Ec.

Name in Spanish: Gorrión de Gorro Negro.

Sub-species: Black-capped Sparrow (Arremon abeillei abeillei), Lesson, 1844.  SW Ecuador (from Manabí) S on Pacific slope to NW Peru (S to Cajamarca).
(A. a. nigriceps) Taczanowski, 1880.  Upper Marañón Valley in E Cajamarca, in NW Peru.

Meaning of Name: Arremon: Gr. arrhemon, arrhemonos= silent, without speech. abeillei: In honor of Dr. Grégoire Abeillé (d.1848) French physician, ornithologist, and collector.

See more of the Family Passerellidae