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Orange-billed Sparrow | Arremon aurantiirostris
Goudsnavelgors | Rascador pico naranja | Tico-tico-de-bico-laranja
The Orange-billed Sparrow is a sparrow of the undergrowth of humid lowland forest, with a bright orange bill set against a black head. Its range extends from southern Mexico to northern Peru. It lives in pairs on the ground and searches for food among the leaf litter.
Voice
The song is a series of very high, thin, sibilant notes and trills. The call is a high, sharp tsit.
Recording: José María Loaiza B. — CC BY-NC-SA 4.0 · xeno-canto
Identification
15–16 cm, with a fairly short tail. The bill is bright orange. The head is black, with a white supercilium behind the eye and a narrow grey median crown stripe. The throat is white and is bordered by a broad black breast band. The back, wings and tail are olive-green, with a small yellow patch at the bend of the wing. The rest of the underparts are white, with grey flanks. The sexes are alike. Juveniles are duller, with a dark bill and a mottled breast.
Confusion species
Black-capped Sparrow Arremon abeillei of the dry forest of south-western Ecuador and north-western Peru has a black bill and a grey back. Pectoral Sparrow Arremon taciturnus east of the Andes has a black bill. Chestnut-capped Brushfinch Arremon brunneinucha is larger, with a chestnut crown and a black bill, and lives higher. Black-striped Sparrow Arremonops conirostris has a grey head with black stripes, a dark bill and no breast band.
Habitat
Undergrowth of humid lowland forest, foothill forest and old secondary forest, especially in shady ravines and along streams, from sea level to about 1300 m. It forages on the ground by flicking leaves aside, for insects, other invertebrates and seeds. The nest is a domed structure on or just above the ground.
Where the bird is most at home, classified by the vegetation units of the Andes and the west coast.
Range and movements
In Colombia in the Pacific lowlands, in the north-west and the middle Magdalena Valley, and at the foot of the eastern slope in the south. In Ecuador west of the Andes in the lowlands and foothills, and at the foot of the eastern slope. In Peru only in the north, in Tumbes and at the foot of the eastern slope. Absent from Bolivia and the Galápagos. Outside the guide area from southern Mexico to Panama.
- Resident
- dark = core range, pale = thinly spread
How and when to look
Search the undergrowth of foothill forest in north-western Ecuador, for example at Milpe. Birds forage on the ground along forest trails; listen for rustling leaves and high song from the undergrowth.
Conservation status
Least Concern. The species is widespread, but has declined locally through clearance of lowland forest.
Scientific name
Arremon aurantiirostris | de Lafresnaye, 1847
De Lafresnaye described the species in 1847 and placed it straight away in the genus where it still stands. The genus Arremon was introduced in 1816 by Vieillot. The genus name comes from Greek arrhēmōn, 'silent, without speech'. The species name comes from Latin aurantius, 'orange', and rostrum, 'bill': 'orange-billed'. The specimen the first description was based on came from Panama.