Cabanis's Ground- Sparrow
A skulky Costa Rican endemic
Scientific name: Melozone cabanisi
(Previous M. biarcuata until 2017)
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Family: Passerellidae
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English name: Cabanis's Ground-sparrow / Costa Rican Ground-sparrow
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Common names in Spanish: Pinzón Cafetalero, Pinzón Costarricense, Escapulario, Jupa Roja, Rey de Comemaíz, Pistiz, Mercenario.
A resilient species
Inhabits thickets, patches of secondary growth and coffee, chayote and sugar cane plantations, preferring dense, scrubby vegetation.
Natural
History
Suspicious from the beginning
Since its description in the mid-19th century until 2017, the Cabanis's Ground-sparrow had been considered the same species as the current White-faced Ground-sparrow (Melozone biarcuata) which is distributed in Mexico, Guatemala, Honduras and El Salvador; and Prevost's Ground-Sparrow (M. biarcuata) was the name by which it was known.
Near Threatened
CONSERVATION STATUS
During the last three decades, the Central Valley of Costa Rica and its surroundings have experienced a dizzying process of urban expansion without any planning and without replenishing the natural spaces that concrete has taken over. Thickets and shrubland are not protected habitats, and rather suffer from a bad social reputation.
The transformation of land use is causing habitat reduction and fragmentation as well as loss of connectivity among populations; this restricts genetic exchange between populations and reduces their ability to disperse.
The high nest predation is caused by natural predators but also by domestic and feral pets (dogs and cats).
During the last three decades, the Central Valley of Costa Rica and its surroundings have experienced a dizzying process of urban expansion without any planning and without replenishing the natural spaces that concrete has taken over. Thickets and shrubland are not protected habitats, and rather suffer from a bad social reputation.
PHOTO: LUIS MATARRITA
