Melozone biarcuata
Silhouette: Edwin Price · PhyloPic
In 3 days ~40% in a week ~70%
Prevost's ground sparrow (Melozone biarcuata), also known as the white-faced ground sparrow, is an American sparrow. Its English name commemorates French naturalist Florent Prévost. This bird breeds at middle altitudes from southern Mexico to western Honduras. The Cabanis's ground sparrow was previously considered a subspecies. It is found typically at altitudes between 600 and 1600 m in the undergrowth and thickets of semi-open woodland, coffee plantations, hedgerows and large gardens.
Prevost's ground sparrow is on average 15 cm long and weighs 28 g. The adult has a stubby dark-grey bill, unstreaked olive-brown upperparts, a rufous crown and mainly white underparts. Young birds are browner above, have yellower underparts, and a duller indistinct head pattern. It has a simple head pattern in which the rufous of the crown extends down the sides of the neck as a half collar behind the white face.
Usually found in pairs, the bird is a shy species best seen at or near dusk. They sometimes venture in the open in the early morning. The nest, built by the female, is a neat lined cup constructed... Wikipedia →
| # | Park | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | El Triunfo | 🇲🇽 Mexico | |
| 2 | Celaque National Park | 🇭🇳 Honduras | |
| 3 | Cerro Azul Meámbar National Park | 🇭🇳 Honduras | |
| 4 | Cusuco National Park | 🇭🇳 Honduras | |
| 5 | Lago de Yojoa | 🇭🇳 Honduras |
| # | City | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Guatemala City | 🇬🇹 Guatemala |
With luck
About 10% of wildlife watchers report a White-faced Ground-Sparrow sighting in Guatemala City on a given day, based on 695 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data. It is the 45th most-seen of the 220 birds we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to about 40%, and over a week to about 70%, if each day is a fresh chance.
June–October and December
In those months about 20% of wildlife watchers report a White-faced Ground-Sparrow in Guatemala City on a given day, against about 10% in January–May and November, the lowest months. Those are among Guatemala City's wettest months, with about 180 mm of rain a month against 5 mm in January.
Between 6 and 9 am
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most White-faced Ground-Sparrow sightings with a recorded time, and about 8 in 10 of them come between 6 am and 6 pm: it is a daytime animal.
Only Guatemala City, in our data
Guatemala City is the only city on Wallace's Line with enough records to rate White-faced Ground-Sparrow sightings: about 10% of wildlife watchers there report one on a given day.
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the White-faced Ground-Sparrow is recorded against all the birds logged in Guatemala City (695 verified sightings), calibrated against known sighting rates. Figures are rounded to the nearest 10% because citizen-science data supports honest approximations, not decimals, and months with records from fewer than five people show "—". How it works.
