Olive Sparrow

About the Olive Sparrow

The olive sparrow (Arremonops rufivirgatus) is a species of bird in the family Passerellidae, the New World sparrows. It is found from Texas to Costa Rica. The olive sparrow was formally described in 1851 with the binomial Embernagra rufivigata and the English name "brown striped olive finch". In 1896 Robert Ridgway erected the genus Arremonops and reassigned the olive sparrow to it as the type species.

The olive sparrow's further taxonomy is unsettled. The IOC and AviList assign it these eight subspecies: A. r. rufivirgatus (Lawrence, 1851) A. r. crassirostris (Ridgway, 1878) A. r. rhyptothorax Parkes, 1974 A. r. verticalis (Ridgway, 1878)

A. r. sinaloae Nelson, 1899 A. r. sumichrasti (Sharpe, 1888) A. r. chiapensis Nelson, 1904 A. r. superciliosus (Salvin, 1865) However, as of late 2025 the Clements taxonomy and BirdLife International's Handbook of the Birds of the World add a ninth subspecies, A. r. ridgwayi (Sutton & Burleigh, 1941). The other systems include it within the nominate A. r. rufivirgatus.

This article follows the eight-subspecies model. The olive sparrow is about 12 to 14 cm (4.7 to 5.5 in) long and weighs 15 to 30 g... Wikipedia →