This bird breeds at middle altitudes from southern Mexico to western Honduras. The Cabanis's ground sparrow was previously considered a subspecies. It is found typically at altitudes between 600 and 1600 m in the undergrowth and thickets of semi-open woodland, coffee plantations, hedgerows and large gardens.[3]
Prevost's ground sparrow is on average 15 cm long and weighs 28 g. The adult has a stubby dark-grey bill, unstreaked olive-brown upperparts, a rufous crown and mainly white underparts. Young birds are browner above, have yellower underparts, and a duller indistinct head pattern. It has a simple head pattern in which the rufous of the crown extends down the sides of the neck as a half collar behind the white face.
The nest, built by the female, is a neat lined cup constructed less than 2 m up in a bush or large tussock. The female lays a clutch of two or three ruddy-blotched white eggs, which she incubates for 12–14 days. The male helps in feeding the chicks. This species is sometimes parasitised by the bronzed cowbird.
Calls include a thin tsit or a clearer psee. The male's song, given from a hidden perch in the wet season, is a whistled pst’t’t’t peer peer peer whee whee whee.
