San Francisco Sparrow (Arremon franciscanus)
San Francisco Sparrow, Minas Gerais, Brazil, February 2002 - click for larger image Brazil

The San Francisco Sparrow was only described as a species as recently as 1997. See the note on the CBRO website (Resolução No.3) and the article by Marcos Reposo in Ararajuba 5(1):3-9 entitled "A new species of Arremon (Passeriformes: Emberizidae) from Brazil"
San Francisco Sparrow, Chapada Diamantina, Bahia, Brazil, March - click for larger image The first bird was in fairly dense undergrowth in deciduous forest close to the caatinga in the Peruaçu National Park. It seems to be restricted to this type of thick scrub caatinga and is found only on the valley of the rio São Francisco in the states of Bahia and Minas Gerais. The second photo was in similar habitat in the Chapada Diamantina, Bahia. It is classified as Near Threatened by Birdlife.

The distinguishing features of the San Francisco Sparrow compared to the Pectoral Sparrow A. taciturnus are that the full breast band in the latter is reduced to two breast patches near the wing bend in the former. It also has an orange bill with a black culmen. Another closely related species is the Half-collared Sparrow A. semitorquatus where the breast band falls somewhere between the two extremes.

The only illustrations I am aware of are in the Ararajuba article mentioned above.
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