Bridled Sparrow

The bridled sparrow is 14 to 16.5 cm (5.5 to 6.5 in) long and weighs about 20 to 26 g (0.71 to 0.92 oz). The sexes have the same plumage. Adults have a grayish crown and nape with dusky streaks. Their lores are black with a white spot above them. Their face is dull brownish gray or dusky with a white "moustache" stripe. Their back is brown with black streaks and their scapulars cinnamon rufous. Their rump is also cinnamon rufous. Their tail is dusky with paler feather edges. Their wings are dull black or dusky with paler feather edges. Their middle and greater wing coverts have white tips that show as two wing bars. Their chin is white and their throat black. Their breast is light olive gray or dull ash gray, their belly dull white, and their flanks and undertail coverts cinnamon buff. They have a brown iris, a black maxilla, a pale bluish gray mandible, and pale pinkish or light brown legs and feet. Juveniles have a light grayish brown crown and nape with dusky streaks. Their loral spot, moustache, and wing bars are yellowish or buffy rather than white. The center of their throat is whitish with dusky flecks. Their breast is dull whitish with dusky streaks.

The bridled sparrow is found primarily in south-central Mexico's southern Puebla and northern Oaxaca states. It is also found locally in Morelos and Veracruz. It primarily inhabits arid montane scrublands including thorn forest. It also is found in nearby oak scrub and overgrown clearings. In elevation it ranges between 900 and 1,900 m (3,000 and 6,200 ft).

The bridled sparrow's diet has not been studied. It apparently includes seeds, insects, spiders, fruit, and nectar. It usually forages on and near the ground, in pairs or small groups.