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Botteri's Sparrow | Peucaea botterii
Botteri's gors | Zacatonero de Botteri
Botteri's Sparrow is an inconspicuous brown Peucaea sparrow of tall grassland and savanna. Lacking distinct markings, it is recognised mainly by its song, delivered in the rainy season from a grass tussock or bush. In the guide area it lives from northern Mexico to Nicaragua.
Voice
The song varies regionally but usually begins with a few high ticks or whistles followed by an accelerating, bouncing trill. The call is a dry chip.
Recording: Manuel Grosselet — CC BY-NC-SA 4.0 · shortened to the first 60 s, mono · xeno-canto
Identification
14–16 cm. Fairly large and flat-headed, with a stout bill and a long, rounded tail. Upperparts greyish brown with rufous and black streaks; crown brown with fine streaks and a faint grey central stripe. Face plain with a weakly marked supercilium and a thin dark eyestripe. Underparts unstreaked dull buff, slightly warmer on breast and flanks, paler on the belly. Tail brown without white corners. The sexes are alike; juveniles have fine streaks on the breast.
Confusion species
Cassin's Sparrow Peucaea cassinii is greyer, with dark spots on the back feathers, fine streaks on the flanks and pale tips to the outer tail feathers; it often sings in a song flight. Grasshopper Sparrow Ammodramus savannarum is smaller, with a shorter tail and a buffy-yellow face. Rufous-winged Sparrow Peucaea carpalis in the north-west has a rufous shoulder and two dark malar marks.
Habitat
Tall, dense grassland with scattered bushes, savanna, pine savanna and grassy coastal plains; in the north also semi-desert grassland. From sea level to about 2000 m. It usually stays hidden in the grass, where it takes seeds and insects.
Where the bird is most at home, classified by the vegetation units of Mexico and Central America.
Range and movements
Breeds in south-eastern Arizona and southern Texas. In the guide area in large parts of Mexico, on both the Pacific and Caribbean slopes and on the central plateau, and further south in the savannas of Belize, Guatemala, Honduras and Nicaragua. In the north the birds largely leave in winter.
- Resident
- Summer visitor (c. Apr–Sep)
- dark = core range, pale = thinly spread
How and when to look
Best found in the rainy season, when males sing from a grass tussock, post or low bush. In Belize regularly found in the pine savannas.
Conservation status
Not threatened (LC). Widespread, but declining locally through the conversion of grassland into farmland, overgrazing and the loss of savanna.
Scientific name
Peucaea botterii | (Sclater, 1858)
Sclater described the species in 1858 as Zonotrichia botterii; because it was later moved to another genus, the author and year stand in brackets. The genus Peucaea was introduced in 1839 by Audubon. Peucaea is Greek, from peukē 'pine tree'; Audubon called the type species the 'Pinewood-Finch', after the pine woods it inhabits. botterii honours the Dalmatian botanist and collector Matteo Botteri (1808–1877), who settled near Orizaba, Mexico. The specimen the first description was based on came from near Orizaba, Veracruz, Mexico.