SPECIES

Striped Sparrow Oriturus superciliosus Scientific name definitions

D. Alexander Carrillo Martínez, Zayra Arery Guadalupe Muñoz González, Cody Smith, David L. Slager, and Andrew J. Spencer
Version: 3.0 — Published February 9, 2024

Breeding

Introduction

The breeding period is reported to extend from May to September (4), but there are no detailed studies of breeding biology. Only specific collecting dates and observations of breeding behavior, including nest and egg dates, have been recorded.

Phenology

Courtship and pair formation may start in February in Oaxaca (21). Males and females collected in Veracruz during March-April had evidence of near approach of the breeding season (37).

Females collected in Veracruz on 2–4 April had greatly enlarged ovaries (64); another female collected on 25 May in Oaxaca had an enlarged (0.5 mm) follicle (7); a female found in Veracruz on 30–31 July had a well-developed brood patch (5); and a female collected in Michoacan on 30 August had an ova up to 22 mm in the ovary (49). Males with enlarged testes were collected in Veracruz on 30–31 July (5). This suggests that reproductive period may occur from March to August.

A juvenile being fed by its parents was collected in April in Chihuahua (month determined by specimens in UAZ 006050 and WFVZ 1542; 52); juveniles in "first plumage" were collected in July in Veracruz (29); and a male "pre-juvenile" was taken on 12 September in Oaxaca (7).

Nest Site

Site Characteristics

Nest is placed low to the ground, often in a thick bush or in bunchgrass (2, 1, 4). See Habitat.

Nest

Structure and Composition

Nest is cup-shaped and composed of pine needles, twigs, grasses, and/or straw and lined with fine plant material (2, 1, 4).

Eggs

Shape

Short oval (k = 1.32) (65).

Size

Based on a sample size of 3 eggs, mean length 23.0 mm (range 21.5–24.2); mean width 17.4 mm (range 17.0–17.8) (65).

Mass

Mean mass of fresh eggs 3.65 g.

Eggshell Thickness

No information.

Color and Surface Texture

Quite shiny white and spotted with chestnut brown, gray-brown or gray and violet-gray spots (65, 2, 1, 4). Spotting is irregularly distributed, small to medium-sized, partly rounded and partly angular, and light reddish, dark red-brown to very blackish red, or lilac gray in color; sharp and well-defined dark colors are mixed with indistinct lighter ones (65).

Clutch Size

Normally ranges from 3–4 eggs (1, 4).

Egg Laying

No information.

Incubation

Female incubates the eggs, with incubation lasting 13–14 days (2).

Hatching

No information.

Young Birds

No information.

Parental Care

No information.

Cooperative Breeding

No information.

Brood Parasitism by Other Species

No information.

Fledgling Stage

No information.

Immature Stage

No information.

Recommended Citation

Carrillo Martínez, D. A., Z. A. G. Muñoz González, C. Smith, D. L. Slager, and A. J. Spencer (2024). Striped Sparrow (Oriturus superciliosus), version 3.0. In Birds of the World (B. K. Keeney and P. G. Rodewald, Editors). Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Ithaca, NY, USA. https://doi.org/10.2173/bow.strspa1.03