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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. 

Pyrgisoma cabanisi.jpg

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

cabanisi

PHOTO: LUIS MATARRITA

Grainy Melcab
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