White-rumped snowfinch

Montifringilla taczanowskii

(Photo from Zoochat)

Common name:
white-rumped snowfinch (en); pardal-das-neves-de-Taczanowski (pt); niverolle de Taczanowski (fr); gorrión de Taczanowski (es); weißbürzel-erdsperling (de)

Taxonomy:
Order Passeriformes
Family Passeridae

Range:
This species is found from Tibet, northern Nepal and extreme northern India into central and northern China as far as Inner Mongolia and Ningxia.

Size:
These birds are 17-17,5 cm long and weigh 30-55 g.

Habitat:
The white-rumped snowfinch is mostly found in barren rocky areas with cliffs, also using high-altitude meadows up to the snow line and bogs and swamps. They occur at altitudes of 3.800-5.500 m.

Diet:
During the breeding season they feed mainly on insects, including larval and adult beetles, wasps, flies and caterpillars. Outside the breeding season they eat mostly seeds, also taking scraps at ski resorts.

Breeding:
White-rumped snowfinches breed in April-August. They are socially monogamous and can breed either in solitary pairs or in small, loose colonies of 2-6 pairs, each nesting in a cup built by the female using of grass stems, and placed inside a pika Ochotona curzionae burrow. The female lays 2-6 white eggs, which she incubates alone for 9-15 days. The chicks are fed by both parents and fledge 18-24 days after hatching, but continue to receive food from the parents for another 2-3 weeks. Each pair can raise 2 broods per season.

Conservation:
IUCN status - LC (Least Concern)
This species has a very large breeding range and is reported to be common to locally common. The population is suspected to be stable in the absence of evidence for any declines or substantial threats.

Northern grey-headed sparrow

Passer griseus

Photo by Dick Daniels (Wikipedia)

Common name:
northern grey-headed sparrow (en); pardal-de-cabeça-cinzenta (pt); moineau gris (fr); gorrión de cabeza gris (es); graukopfsperling (de)

Taxonomy:
Order Passeriformes
Family Passeridae

Range:
This species is found in sub-Saharan Africa, from southern Mauritania to southern Sudan and south to northern Angola, Zambia, northern Zimbabwe and north-western Mozambique.

Size:
These birds are 15-16 cm long and weigh 24-43 g.

Habitat:
The northern grey-headed sparrow is found in dry savannas and tropical forests, dry scrublands, dry grasslands, arable land and also very often near human settlements in both rural and urban areas. They are present from sea level up to an altitude of 2.000 m.

Diet:
They feed on seeds, flowers, small fruits, and also insects such as beetles, termites and locusts. They also take human scraps.

Breeding:
These birds are monogamous and nest either in solitary pairs or in loose colonies. The nest is built by both sexes, consisting of  an untidy mat made of grass and lined with feathers, typically placed in a tree cavity, either natural or an abandoned nest of a woodpecker or barbet, or in a hole in a building or other human-made structure. They can also use the nests of other birds, such as swallows, bee-eaters, swifts and kingfishers sometimes evicting them while they are actively breeding. The female lays 2-7 eggs, which she incubates alone for about 16 days. The chicks are fed by both parents on a diet of insects, leaving the nest after about 19 days.

Conservation:
IUCN status - LC (Least Concern)
This species has an extremely large breeding range and is described as common. The population is suspected to be stable in the absence of evidence for any declines or substantial threats.

House sparrow

Passer domesticus

(Photo from Wikipedia)

Common name:
house sparrow (en); pardal-doméstico (pt); moineau domestique (fr); gorrión común (es); haussperling (de)

Taxonomy:
Order Passeriformes
Family Passeridae

Range:
The house sparrow originates from Eurasia and northern Africa, but has been introduced to most of the world. It is only absent from northern Canada, Alaska and Greenland, central Africa between the Sahara desert and D.R. Congo, western Australia, southern China and south-east Asia and north-eastern Russia. It is also absent from Antarctica.

Size:
These birds are 14-17 cm long and have a wingspan of 19-25 cm. They weigh 25-32 g.

Habitat:
The house sparrow is closely associated with human settlements and buildings, from the largest urban areas to human structures in remote rural areas. It can also be found in a wide range of habitats, including arable and irrigated land, pastures, rural gardens, temperate and tropical forests, grasslands, scrublands and wetlands, but always near human dwellings. They occur from sea level up to an altitude of 4.500 m.

Diet:
They mainly eat grains and seeds, including corn, oats, wheat, rice and sorghum, as well as the seeds of wild grasses, but also rely heavily on food discarded by humans and livestock feed. They also hunt some insects, especially when feeding their young.

Breeding:
House sparrow can breed all year round, varying between different parts of their worldwide range. They usually breed in small colonies, each pair nesting in a hole in a building or other human structure, filled with coarse dry vegetation and lined with feather and artificial materials such as paper and string. The female lays 1-10 white, bluish-white, or greenish-white eggs with brown or grey spots, which she mostly incubates alone for 10-14 days. The chicks are fed by both parents and fledge 12-16 days after hatching, only becoming fully independent 2 weeks later. Each pair can raise up to 4 broods per year.

Conservation:
IUCN status - LC (Least Concern)
This species has an extremely large breeding range and a global population estimated at over 540 million individuals. In Europe the population has declined at a moderate rate in recent decades.

Rock sparrow

Petronia petronia

Photo by Ray Wilson (Ray Wilson's Bird & Wildlife Photography)

Common name:
rock sparrow (en); pardal francês (pt); moineau soulcie (fr); gorrión chillón (es); steinsperling (de)

Taxonomy:
Order Passeriformes
Family Passeridae

Range:
The rock sparrow is found around the Mediterranean, in southern Europe and northern Africa, and eastwards through the Middle East and the Caucasus, through Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan and into northern China and Mongolia.

Size:
These birds are 14-17 cm long and have a wingspan of 16-17 cm. They weigh 26-39 g.

Habitat:
Rock sparrows are found in rocky areas, dry grasslands and woodlands and rural gardens.

Diet:
They mainly feed on seeds, berries and fruits, but during summer these are complemented with insects, especially grasshoppers and caterpillars.

Breeding:
Rock sparrows breed in April-July. They nest in is a hole or cavity in rocks, earth bank, tree, building or other structure, commonly in old, or sometimes usurped nests of other species, particularly bee-eaters but also nuthatches, swallows and martins, and even in rodent burrows. There the female lays 4-8 white eggs with brown or blackish spots. The eggs are incubated by the female for 11-15 days, while the male provides her food. The chicks are fed by both parents and fledge 16-22 days after hatching. Each pair may raise 2 clutches per year.

Conservation:
IUCN status - LC (Least Concern)
This species has a very large breeding range and a global population estimated at 20-220 million individuals. In Europe, the population is increasing moderately, but the trend in Africa and Asia is unknown.

Dead Sea sparrow

Passer moabiticus

Photo by Daniele Occhiato (PBase)

Common name:

Dead Sea sparrow (en); pardal-do-Mar Morto (pt); moineau de la mer Morte (fr); gorrión del Mar Muerto (es); moabsperling (de)

Taxonomy:

Order Passeriformes

Family Passeridae

Range:

This species is patchily distributed, from Israel and Turkey, across the Middle East, and into Afghanistan and Pakistan.

Size:

The Dead Sea sparrow is 12-13 cm long and has a wingspan of 19-20 cm. They weigh 18 g.

Habitat:

These birds are found in arid, open areas, mostly scrubland, thick scrub, tamarisk and very sparse woodlands. They are typically found near watercourses or pools.

Diet:

They mostly eat the seeds of grasses, but also of tamarisk and papirus, and will also eat some insects.

Breeding:

Dead Sea sparrows breed in March-July. The nest is a bulky, open globular or cone-shaped structure built of stiff dry twigs, finely interwoven around the branches of a tree, lined with a thick pad of plant down, seed panicles, fibres, and feathers. There the female lays 4-5 ground-coloured eggs with brown spots. The eggs are incubated for 9-16 days and the chicks fledge 11-13 days after hatching. Each pair my produce 2-3 broods per year.

Conservation:

IUCN status - LC (Least Concern)

This species has a patchy and relatively restricted breeding range. The global population is estimated at 11.000-180.000 individuals and is suspected to be stable in the absence of evidence for any declines or substantial threats.

Chestnut sparrow

Passer eminibey

Common name:

chestnut sparrow (en); pardal-castanho (pt); moineau d'Emin (fr); gorrión castaño (es); maronensperling (de)

Taxonomy:

Order Passeriformes

Family Passeridae

Range:

These birds are found in eastern Africa, from Darfur in southern Sudan, through Somalia, Uganda and Kenya, an into Tanzania.

Size:

This small sparrow is 10,5-11,5 cm long and has a wingspan of 17-20 cm. They weigh 12-17 g.

Habitat:

They are mostly found in dry savanna, but also in agricultural fields, inside vilages and occasionally in swamps of papyrus.

Diet:

Chestnut sparrows often forage in large, multi-specific flocks, together with queleas and other weavers. They mostly eat grass seeds and those near human habitations will also eat crumbs and other household scraps. Nestlings may sometimes be fed insects, namely small beetles.

Breeding:

The chestnut sparrow may breed all year round, following rains, and the breeding seasons of its hosts in areas where it parasitises nests. In some areas they use the nest other birds, namely weavers, while in other areas they build their nest on a tree, an untidy domed structure, made of grass and lined with feathers. Females lay 3-4 white or bluish-white eggs, which are incubated for 18-19 days. Some observations indicate that nestlings are fed by the female alone.

Conservation:

IUCN status - LC (Least concern)

Although the global population size has not been quantified, the species is described as common or locally common in most of its very large breeding range. The population is suspected to be stable in the absence of evidence for any declines or substantial threats.