Rusty-crowned Ground-Sparrow, Melozone kieneri

Rusty-crowned Ground-Sparrow, Melozone kieneri. Photograph taken in greater Copala area, Copala, Sinaloa, March 2017. Photograph and identification courtesy of David F Smith, Alamos, Sonora.

The Rusty-crowned Ground-Sparrow, Melozone kieneri, is one of three subspecies of Rusty-crowned Ground Sparrow, all three of which are found in Mexico. They are a member of the Passerellidae Family of New World Sparrows, which has one hundred thirty-two members placed in thirty genera, and one of eight global species of the Melozone Genus. They are known in Mexico as Roacador Coronirrufo.

The Rusty-crowned Ground-Sparrow is large in stature with a relatively long, slightly graduated tail. The sexes are similar in appearance. They have a rusty crown and head, darker forehead, and grayish auriculars. They have a prominent white broken eye ring with white to gray below with a distinct black spot on their breast.  Their upperparts are brown, their throat, breast and belly are white, their flanks are brown and their undertail coverts are rufescent. They have a black bill, dark-brown iris, and brownish legs and feet.

The Rusty-crowned Ground-Sparrow is found in arid to semi-humid brushy woods, thorn forests, second growth and in oak and juniper scrub within dense cover and are normally located via their call. They are found along the Pacific slope and in the interior at elevations up to 2,000 m (6,600 feet). They are non-migratory year-round residents. They are found as solitary individuals or in pairs that are ground foragers that consume a variety of insects and seeds. The Rusty-crowned Ground-Sparrow has been poorly studied and very limited information about their behavioral patterns and biology has been documented.

The Rusty-crowned Ground-Sparrow, is endemic to western Mexico along the Pacific Slope from southern Sonora south to western Oaxaca and in the interior from Jalisco south to northwest Oaxaca. The kierneri subspecies is found in Sonora, Sinaloa, western Durango, Nayarit, western Jalisco and Colima.

The Rusty-crowned Ground-Sparrow, is a straightforward identification that cannot be easily confused with any other species within its limited geographic range.

From a conservation perspective Rusty-crowned Ground-Sparrow, is currently considered to be of Least Concern with stable, widely distributed populations. However, they are currently of major focus of conservationist within Mexico.