Olive Sparrow
Arremonops rufivirgatus
The Olive Sparrow’s preferred habitat is dense thorny scrublands. They range from southern Texas to Central America and are non migratory. Their songs are reminiscent of the bouncing ball song of the Black-Chinned Sparrow, and their appearance is similar to a Green-Tailed Towhee. They spend most of their time on or near the ground, both when foraging for seeds and the occasional insect, and when nesting.
Scientists have identified eight subspecies of Olive Sparrow:
- A. r. rufivirgatus is resident in the lower Rio Grande Valley of Texas and Mexico.
- A. r. crassirostris lives in Vera Cruz, Puebla, and Oaxaca (Mexico).
- A. r. verticalis lives in the Mexican Yucatan and northern Central America.
- A. r. rhyptothorax lives on the northern edge of the Yucatan Peninsula.
- A. r. sinaloae lives on the Mexican west coast in Sinaloa and Nayarit.
- A. r. sumichrasti lives in from Jalisco to Oaxaca (Mexico).
- A. r. chiapensis lives in Chiapas (Mexico).
- A. r. superciliosus lives in Central America.
Until I visited south Texas in the springs of 2020 and 2021, I’d never met an Olive Sparrow. Considering that South Texas is the only place north of Mexico where we can find them, this should come as no surprise. These birds are non-migratory, and so I enjoyed their company when I returned to Texas in the fall of 2022.
29 Photos
Olive Sparrow(Arremonops rufivirgatus) |
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Description: When I left California for Texas, this was a bird I was hoping to meet. Atascosa NWR was a short drive from my camp in Brownsville, Texas, and remained open during the COVID-19 crisis, when many other nearby birding hotspots shut down. |
Date Taken: 2020:04:20 8:58 |
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Location:
Atascosa NWR |
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Camera Information: NIKON D500, 550 mm, f/8.0, 1/200 |
File Name: OliveSparrow_D503991-Atascosa-NWR |
| © 2020 Jack Daynes, shadeTreeImaging.com |
Olive Sparrow(Arremonops rufivirgatus) |
|
Description: When I left California for Texas, this was a bird I was hoping to meet. Atascosa NWR was a short drive from my camp in Brownsville, Texas, and remained open during the COVID-19 crisis, when many other nearby birding hotspots shut down. |
Date Taken: 2020:04:20 8:58 |
|
Location:
Atascosa NWR |
|
Camera Information: NIKON D500, 550 mm, f/8.0, 1/200 |
File Name: OliveSparrow_D503992-Atascosa-NWR |
| © 2020 Jack Daynes, shadeTreeImaging.com |
Olive Sparrow(Arremonops rufivirgatus) |
|
Description: When I left California for Texas, this was a bird I was hoping to meet. Atascosa NWR was a short drive from my camp in Brownsville, Texas, and remained open during the COVID-19 crisis, when many other nearby birding hotspots shut down. |
Date Taken: 2020:04:20 8:58 |
|
Location:
Atascosa NWR |
|
Camera Information: NIKON D500, 550 mm, f/8.0, 1/500 |
File Name: OliveSparrow_D504000-Atascosa-NWR |
| © 2020 Jack Daynes, shadeTreeImaging.com |
Olive Sparrow(Arremonops rufivirgatus) |
|
Description: When I left California for Texas, this was a bird I was hoping to meet. Atascosa NWR was a short drive from my camp in Brownsville, Texas, and remained open during the COVID-19 crisis, when many other nearby birding hotspots shut down. |
Date Taken: 2020:04:20 9:06 |
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Location:
Atascosa NWR |
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Camera Information: NIKON D500, 550 mm, f/8.0, 1/160 |
File Name: OliveSparrow_D504019-Atascosa-NWR |
| © 2020 Jack Daynes, shadeTreeImaging.com |
Olive Sparrow(Arremonops rufivirgatus) |
|
Description: When I left California for Texas, this was a bird I was hoping to meet. Atascosa NWR was a short drive from my camp in Brownsville, Texas, and remained open during the COVID-19 crisis, when many other nearby birding hotspots shut down. |
Date Taken: 2020:04:20 9:06 |
|
Location:
Atascosa NWR |
|
Camera Information: NIKON D500, 550 mm, f/8.0, 1/200 |
File Name: OliveSparrow_D504022-Atascosa-NWR |
| © 2020 Jack Daynes, shadeTreeImaging.com |
Olive Sparrow(Arremonops rufivirgatus) |
|
Description: When I left California for Texas, this was a bird I was hoping to meet. Atascosa NWR was a short drive from my camp in Brownsville, Texas, and remained open during the COVID-19 crisis, when many other nearby birding hotspots shut down. |
Date Taken: 2020:04:20 9:08 |
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Location:
Atascosa NWR |
|
Camera Information: NIKON D500, 550 mm, f/8.0, 1/200 |
File Name: OliveSparrow_D504036-Atascosa-NWR |
| © 2020 Jack Daynes, shadeTreeImaging.com |
Olive Sparrow(Arremonops rufivirgatus) |
|
Description: Because Olive Sparrows love dense thickets and understory, they are difficult to capture their images. These were one of the birds I applied effort to find on this day. My third visit to Atascosa NWR in South Texas was intended to pickup images of a couple of the birds I came up short with on my second visit. But then I started meeting new birds and I stayed all day. |
Date Taken: 2020:04:24 8:51 |
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Location:
Atascosa NWR |
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Camera Information: NIKON D500, 800 mm, f/8.0, 1/320 |
File Name: OliveSparrow_D505664-Atascosa-NWR |
| © 2020 Jack Daynes, shadeTreeImaging.com |
Olive Sparrow(Arremonops rufivirgatus) |
|
Description: Because Olive Sparrows love dense thickets and understory, they are difficult to capture their images. These were one of the birds I applied effort to find on this day. My third visit to Atascosa NWR in South Texas was intended to pickup images of a couple of the birds I came up short with on my second visit. But then I started meeting new birds and I stayed all day. |
Date Taken: 2020:04:24 8:57 |
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Location:
Atascosa NWR |
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Camera Information: NIKON D500, 800 mm, f/8.0, 1/500 |
File Name: OliveSparrow_D505722-Atascosa-NWR |
| © 2020 Jack Daynes, shadeTreeImaging.com |
Olive Sparrow(Arremonops rufivirgatus) |
|
Description: Because Olive Sparrows love dense thickets and understory, they are difficult to capture their images. These were one of the birds I applied effort to find on this day. My third visit to Atascosa NWR in South Texas was intended to pickup images of a couple of the birds I came up short with on my second visit. But then I started meeting new birds and I stayed all day. |
Date Taken: 2020:04:24 10:12 |
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Location:
Atascosa NWR |
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Camera Information: NIKON D500, 800 mm, f/8.0, 1/800 |
File Name: OliveSparrow_D505798-Atascosa-NWR |
| © 2020 Jack Daynes, shadeTreeImaging.com |
Olive Sparrow(Arremonops rufivirgatus) |
|
Description: Because Olive Sparrows love dense thickets and understory, they are difficult to capture their images. These were one of the birds I applied effort to find on this day. My third visit to Atascosa NWR in South Texas was intended to pickup images of a couple of the birds I came up short with on my second visit. But then I started meeting new birds and I stayed all day. |
Date Taken: 2020:04:24 10:24 |
|
Location:
Atascosa NWR |
|
Camera Information: NIKON D500, 800 mm, f/8.0, 1/320 |
File Name: OliveSparrow_D505851-Atascosa-NWR |
| © 2020 Jack Daynes, shadeTreeImaging.com |
Olive Sparrow(Arremonops rufivirgatus) |
|
Description: Because Olive Sparrows love dense thickets and understory, they are difficult to capture their images. These were one of the birds I applied effort to find on this day. My third visit to Atascosa NWR in South Texas was intended to pickup images of a couple of the birds I came up short with on my second visit. But then I started meeting new birds and I stayed all day. |
Date Taken: 2020:04:24 14:18 |
|
Location:
Atascosa NWR |
|
Camera Information: NIKON D500, 800 mm, f/8.0, 1/500 |
File Name: OliveSparrow_D507133-Atascosa-NWR |
| © 2020 Jack Daynes, shadeTreeImaging.com |
Olive Sparrow(Arremonops rufivirgatus) |
|
Description: I guess I missed meeting these birds on my first stop here in the spring of 2020. Less than two miles south of the small town of Quemado Texas is a roadside rest stop, or picnic area, as Texas calls them, where I had a couple of first meetings with bird species in March 2020 on my way to Brownsville Texas. My winter visit in January 2021 had some nice surprises for me as well. |
Date Taken: 2021:01:11 12:09 |
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Location:
Roadside Stop |
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Camera Information: NIKON D5, 800 mm, f/5.6, 1/2000 |
File Name: OliveSparrow_D5X0029-Quemado-TX |
| © 2021 Jack Daynes, shadeTreeImaging.com |
Olive Sparrow(Arremonops rufivirgatus) |
|
Description: I guess I missed meeting these birds on my first stop here in the spring of 2020. Less than two miles south of the small town of Quemado Texas is a roadside rest stop, or picnic area, as Texas calls them, where I had a couple of first meetings with bird species in March 2020 on my way to Brownsville Texas. My winter visit in January 2021 had some nice surprises for me as well. |
Date Taken: 2021:01:11 12:12 |
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Location:
Roadside Stop |
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Camera Information: NIKON D5, 800 mm, f/5.6, 1/4000 |
File Name: OliveSparrow_D5X0092-Quemado-TX |
| © 2021 Jack Daynes, shadeTreeImaging.com |
Olive Sparrow(Arremonops rufivirgatus) |
|
Description: Olive Sparrows love thick tangled underbrush, and the sanctuary here has them in spades. On my first visit to Texas last spring, the pandemic of 2020 caused the Sabal Palm Sanctuary to close its doors. It took until this Monday in January for me to manage my first visit here. |
Date Taken: 2021:01:18 9:53 |
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Location:
Sable Palms Sanctuary |
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Camera Information: NIKON D5, 800 mm, f/11.0, 1/2000 |
File Name: OliveSparrow_D5X1724-SabalPalms |
| © 2021 Jack Daynes, shadeTreeImaging.com |
Olive Sparrow(Arremonops rufivirgatus) |
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Description: Often unnoticed, Olive Sparrows haunt the understory of thorny woodlands. The National Butterfly Center held a “Big Sit” event on Sunday. They invited me to join the team, and in between shifts, I walked the grounds in search of photo opportunities. |
Date Taken: 2021:04:25 18:05 |
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Location:
National Butterfly Center |
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Camera Information: NIKON D5, 800 mm, f/8.0, 1/1000 |
File Name: OliveSparrow_D5X1894-NationalButterflyCenter |
| © 2021 Jack Daynes, shadeTreeImaging.com |
Olive Sparrow(Arremonops rufivirgatus) |
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Description: Sparrows, such as this Olive Sparrow lurked in the brush and undergrowth on the property. For my last expedition while camped in Palmview (Texas), I drove two miles to explore the National Butterfly Center near Mission. I found it was a lovely place to meet birds and some like-minded nature lovers. |
Date Taken: 2021:02:25 13:28 |
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Location:
National Butterfly Center |
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Camera Information: NIKON D5, 800 mm, f/8.0, 1/2000 |
File Name: OliveSparrow_D5X6461-NationalButterflyCenter |
| © 2021 Jack Daynes, shadeTreeImaging.com |
Olive Sparrow(Arremonops rufivirgatus) |
|
Description: Olive Sparrows are a South Texas specialty, and is the only location in the USA where they live. Before leaving the Lower Rio Grande Valley and travelling west, I stopped at the National Butterfly Center in Mission to see friends there. |
Date Taken: 2021:05:09 18:07 |
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Location:
National Butterfly Center |
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Camera Information: NIKON D5, 800 mm, f/8.0, 1/800 |
File Name: OliveSparrow_D5X7883_NationalButterflyCtr |
| © 2021 Jack Daynes, shadeTreeImaging.com |
Olive Sparrow(Arremonops rufivirgatus) |
|
Description: I guess I missed meeting these birds on my first stop here in the spring of 2020. Less than two miles south of the small town of Quemado Texas is a roadside rest stop, or picnic area, as Texas calls them, where I had a couple of first meetings with bird species in March 2020 on my way to Brownsville Texas. My winter visit in January 2021 had some nice surprises for me as well. |
Date Taken: 2021:01:11 12:16 |
|
Location:
Roadside Stop |
|
Camera Information: NIKON D5, 800 mm, f/5.6, 1/4000 |
File Name: OliveSparrow_D5X0216-Quemado-TX |
| © 2021 Jack Daynes, shadeTreeImaging.com |
Olive Sparrow(Arremonops rufivirgatus) |
|
Description: Olive Sparrows love thick tangled underbrush, and the sanctuary here has them in spades. On my first visit to Texas last spring, the pandemic of 2020 caused the Sabal Palm Sanctuary to close its doors. It took until this Monday in January for me to manage my first visit here. |
Date Taken: 2021:01:18 9:54 |
|
Location:
Sable Palms Sanctuary |
|
Camera Information: NIKON D5, 800 mm, f/11.0, 1/2000 |
File Name: OliveSparrow_D5X1739-SabalPalms |
| © 2021 Jack Daynes, shadeTreeImaging.com |
Olive Sparrow(Arremonops rufivirgatus) |
|
Description: I guess I missed meeting these birds on my first stop here in the spring of 2020. Less than two miles south of the small town of Quemado Texas is a roadside rest stop, or picnic area, as Texas calls them, where I had a couple of first meetings with bird species in March 2020 on my way to Brownsville Texas. My winter visit in January 2021 had some nice surprises for me as well. |
Date Taken: 2021:01:11 12:12 |
|
Location:
Roadside Stop |
|
Camera Information: NIKON D5, 800 mm, f/5.6, 1/2000 |
File Name: OliveSparrow_D5X0088-Quemado-TX |
| © 2021 Jack Daynes, shadeTreeImaging.com |
Olive Sparrow(Arremonops rufivirgatus) |
|
Description: I guess I missed meeting these birds on my first stop here in the spring of 2020. Less than two miles south of the small town of Quemado Texas is a roadside rest stop, or picnic area, as Texas calls them, where I had a couple of first meetings with bird species in March 2020 on my way to Brownsville Texas. My winter visit in January 2021 had some nice surprises for me as well. |
Date Taken: 2021:01:11 12:15 |
|
Location:
Roadside Stop |
|
Camera Information: NIKON D5, 800 mm, f/5.6, 1/4000 |
File Name: OliveSparrow_D5X0202-Quemado-TX |
| © 2021 Jack Daynes, shadeTreeImaging.com |
Olive Sparrow(Arremonops rufivirgatus) |
|
Description: Olive Sparrows are a South Texas specialty, and is the only location in the USA where they live. Before leaving the Lower Rio Grande Valley and travelling west, I stopped at the National Butterfly Center in Mission to see friends there. |
Date Taken: 2021:05:09 17:55 |
|
Location:
National Butterfly Center |
|
Camera Information: NIKON D5, 800 mm, f/8.0, 1/1500 |
File Name: OliveSparrow_D5X7806_NationalButterflyCtr |
| © 2021 Jack Daynes, shadeTreeImaging.com |
Olive Sparrow(Arremonops rufivirgatus) |
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Description: Olive Sparrows keep low to the floor of the thorny forest at Atascosa. I spent the day in Laguna Vista and Laguna Atascosa Thursday. I didn’t find any unusual birds, but I enjoyed those that I met. |
Date Taken: 2021:02:04 12:52 |
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Location:
Laguna Atascosa NWR |
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Camera Information: NIKON D5, 800 mm, f/16.0, 1/500 |
File Name: OliveSparrow_D5X8962-AtascosaNWR-TX |
| © 2021 Jack Daynes, shadeTreeImaging.com |
Olive Sparrow(Arremonops rufivirgatus) |
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Description: The only place north of Mexico where we can find Olive Sparrows is southern Texas. |
Date Taken: 2022:09:22 10:06 |
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Location:
Santa Ana National Wildlife Refu |
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Camera Information: NIKON D850, 800 mm, f/8.0, 1/1600 |
File Name: OliveSparrow_8505388-SantaAna.NWR_ |
| © 2022 Jack Daynes, shadeTreeImaging.com |
Olive Sparrow(Arremonops rufivirgatus) |
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Description: Olive Sparrows were one of the two sparrow species I found on my October 2022 visit to Kickapoo Caverns State Park. |
Date Taken: 2022:10:01 7:57 |
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Location:
Kickapoo Caverns State Park |
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Camera Information: NIKON D850, 800 mm, f/8.0, 1/250 |
File Name: OliveSparrow_8507267-KickapooCaverns |
| © 2022 Jack Daynes, shadeTreeImaging.com |
Olive Sparrow(Arremonops rufivirgatus) |
|
Description: Olive Sparrows were one of the two sparrow species I found on my October 2022 visit to Kickapoo Caverns State Park. |
Date Taken: 2022:10:01 8:43 |
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Location:
Kickapoo Caverns State Park |
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Camera Information: NIKON D850, 800 mm, f/8.0, 1/160 |
File Name: OliveSparrow_8507354-KickapooCaverns |
| © 2022 Jack Daynes, shadeTreeImaging.com |
Olive Sparrow(Arremonops rufivirgatus) |
|
Description: Olive Sparrows were one of the two sparrow species I found on my October 2022 visit to Kickapoo Caverns State Park. |
Date Taken: 2022:10:01 8:44 |
|
Location:
Kickapoo Caverns State Park |
|
Camera Information: NIKON D850, 800 mm, f/8.0, 1/250 |
File Name: OliveSparrow_8507366-KickapooCaverns |
| © 2022 Jack Daynes, shadeTreeImaging.com |
Olive Sparrow(Arremonops rufivirgatus) |
|
Description: Olive Sparrows were one of the two sparrow species I found on my October 2022 visit to Kickapoo Caverns State Park. |
Date Taken: 2022:10:01 8:44 |
|
Location:
Kickapoo Caverns State Park |
|
Camera Information: NIKON D850, 800 mm, f/8.0, 1/640 |
File Name: OliveSparrow_8507379-KickapooCaverns |
| © 2022 Jack Daynes, shadeTreeImaging.com |
Olive Sparrow(Arremonops rufivirgatus) |
|
Description: Olive Sparrows were one of the two sparrow species I found on my October 2022 visit to Kickapoo Caverns State Park. |
Date Taken: 2022:10:01 8:46 |
|
Location:
Kickapoo Caverns State Park |
|
Camera Information: NIKON D850, 800 mm, f/8.0, 1/320 |
File Name: OliveSparrow_8507439-KickapooCaverns |
| © 2022 Jack Daynes, shadeTreeImaging.com |
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