Pectoral Sparrow

The pectoral sparrow (Arremon taciturnus) is a small species of New World sparrow first described in 1779 by Georges-Louis Leclerc. It has two subspecies. Like other sparrows in its family Arremon, it has pale green-to-olive wings, a distinctive black band going across its breast, however in subspecies nigrirostris it is not continuous and instead breaks in the center. It is found throughout southeastern South America, in subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests. The phenology of its breeding is unknown, however it has been observed nest building as early as August and as late as December. Incubation takes 15–17 days, however the duration of the nestling and fledgling stages are unknown due to a lack of research. It is omnivorous, mainly eating insects and seeds, and are considered a least-concern species by BirdLife International due to its large population and range. == Taxonomy == The pectoral sparrow was described in 1779 by French polymath Georges-Louis Leclerc, Comte de Buffon in his Histoire Naturelle des Oiseaux under the French name L'Oiseau Silencieux, meaning "the silent bird". It was also illustrated in a hand-colored plate that was produced to accompany Buffon's book. Buffon did not use binomial names but in 1783 the French…