Pectoral Sparrow
Arremon taciturnus
Boldly patterned sparrow of rainforest understory. Wings and back bright green; head black with white streaks over eye and down center of crown, and contrasting white throat. Male light gray below with black patches on sides of breast, or complete black breast band; female similar but underparts with buffy wash, and lacks black on breast. Unlikely to be confused with any other species in its range. Found in patches of denser understory within mature rainforest, along streams, in ravines, and in tree fall gaps. Frequently joins understory mixed species flocks, where it can be hard to detect as it scurries around the forest floor. Song and calls are very high pitched.
Taxonomy
The pectoral sparrow was described in 1779 by French polymath Georges-Louis Leclerc, Comte de Buffon in his Histoire Naturelle des Oiseaux under the French name "L'Oiseau Silencieux". It was also illustrated in a hand-coloured plate that was produced to accompany Buffon's book. Buffon did not use binomial names but in 1783 the French naturalist Johann Hermann coined the name Tanagra taciturna. The specific epithet taciturnus is the Latin word for "silent" or "quiet". The species is now placed in the genus Arremon that was erected by the French ornithologist Louis Pierre Vieillot in 1816 with the pectoral sparrow as the type species.<p>Three subspecies are recognised:
- Scientific name
- Arremon taciturnus
- Authority
- (Hermann, 1783)
- Order
- Passeriformes
- Family
- Passerellidae
- Genus
- Arremon
Range and habitat
The species can be found everywhere in the Amazon Basin except for its western parts. Besides the Amazon jungle it is found in eastern and north-eastern Brazil.
- Migration
- Resident species
Conservation
- Population trend
- stable
Photos
Distribution
Bird Calls
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A small flycatcher. Male is glossy blue-black with a white belly and base of the undertail. Female has a gray head, a deep rufous throat and chest, and a cinnamon back and belly. Common in native forest up to 700 meters of elevation, less common in degraded habitats. Voice is a rasping, repeated “zhay-zhay-zhay.”
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