Black-striped Sparrow

How to find it

Start by listening, because the bird is not easy to notice unless it is singing. Once you hear the whistled, slurred song ending in a trill, scan the middle levels of small trees and dense shrubs, where it often sings. Then check the ground at the edges of scrub, weedy fields and shaded plantations for a pair hopping about. It is typically shy, so patience and quiet help. On one guided outing in scrubby country, Black-striped Sparrows were scoped from a dead tree, alongside toucans, oropendolas, tanagers and parakeets.

How to recognise it

The adult has a grey head with wide black stripes on each side of the crown. A thinner black stripe runs through each eye. That head pattern is the quickest way to know it.

It is about 16.5 cm long.

Because it keeps low and hops about on the ground, you will often see the head pattern first when it pauses at the edge of cover or climbs into a bush. When it sings from well up in small trees or dense shrubs, the stripes are easier to study.

What it sounds like

Recording: Dylan Camacho Guzman, CC BY 4.0, source, read 4 Nov 2026.

Behaviour and diet

This is mostly a ground bird. It eats insects, spiders and seeds from the ground, and also picks berries and small prey from low bushes.

In Costa Rica it hops on the ground looking for small invertebrates and seeds, and it regularly climbs into bushes for berries.

It is usually seen in pairs, never in flocks, and it is shy and secretive. Even so, it often sings from well up among small trees or dense shrubs.

Where it lives

Across its range it is common in humid lowlands and foothills up to about 1500 m. It likes semi-open places such as scrub, young second growth, weedy fields, shaded plantations and gardens.

In Costa Rica it is found from sea level up to about 800 m. On the Caribbean slope it is a common resident in the lower foothills. On the Pacific side it occurs from central Puntarenas Province southward into Panama.

Similar birds

It looks like the Olive Sparrow but is larger, and the two do not overlap in range.

Names and lore in Costa Rica

Costa Rican bird lists give the local names Purisquero and Pájaro Suzuki alongside the official Spanish name Pinzón Cabecilistado.

Status and conservation

It is a common resident in Costa Rica (R on the AOCR list), and the IUCN rates it Least Concern.

Photography tips

Listen for the song to locate the bird, then watch the small trees and dense shrubs where it often sings. A scope helps when it perches in a dead tree in scrubby country.