Black-capped Sparrow Arremon abeillei Scientific name definitions

Black-capped Sparrow is restricted to the dry Pacific lowlands of southwestern Ecuador and northwestern Peru. It is a unique Arremon in that it is entirely black, gray and white; lacking the classic greenish upperparts or a bold yellowish bill, it has an entirely black bill. In some ways it reminds one of several gray, black and white warbling-finches (Poospiza sp.). Structurally this is a large billed, big footed and short tailed Arremon sparrow. It has a black crown and face, with a contrasting and flaring white supercilium, which in actual effect is a postocular stripe as it begins just above the eye, while the lores and supralores are black. This sparrow has the curious habit of raising its crest and looking rather shaggy headed. The throat is gleaming white as it tends to be in Arremon sparrows, and there is a full and well defined black breast band; otherwise this sparrow has gray sides to the breast and gray flanks, and a whitish belly. The Black-capped Sparrow is found in undergrowth of dry woodlands and second growth.