Spanish Sparrow Passer hispaniolensis Scientific name definitions

15–16 cm; 22–38 g. Male nominate race breeding has forehead to nape and hindneck deep chestnut, lores black (usually with short white supraloral line), white postocular spot, cheek and ear-coverts; upperparts streaked black and buffish-brown, paler line down each side of mantle and back, lower back to uppertail-coverts greyish-brown; upperwing-coverts chestnut, medians broadly tipped white, greaters with black centres and narrow whitish tips, flight-feathers black, edged sandy, pale patch at base of primaries; tail dark brown, bases of rectrices edged paler; chin to breast black , black continuing as heavy bold streaks down side to lower flanks (extent of streaking variable), rest of underparts white; iris dark brown; bill black; legs pale pale pinkish or fleshy-brown. Differs from similar P. domesticus in having top of head chestnut (not grey), white postocular spot always present (not sometimes lacking), upperparts more boldly marked, and bib more extensive and continued on flanks as black streaks. Non-breeding male differs from breeding in having chestnut and black areas of head and much of black bib obscured by greyish feather tips, black areas on upperparts likewise, bill horn-coloured. Female is mainly dull brown to grey-brown, with lighter superciliary stripe (mainly behind eye), upperparts similar in pattern to male's but duller and browner, with less black and lacking chestnut tones (but normally rather more boldly marked than P. domesticus, although often inseparable in field); chin and throat whitish (lacks dark bib), underparts paler, with necklace of dark streaks that are continued down flanks; bill brownish, yellower base. Juvenile is similar to female, but markings somewhat less bold, and lacks necklace and streaks below; often inseparable in field from juvenile of P. domesticus. Race <em>transcaspicus</em> is very like nominate, and male almost identical, but freshly moulted individuals (particularly females) paler.

Editor's Note: This article requires further editing work to merge existing content into the appropriate Subspecies sections. Please bear with us while this update takes place.

Introduced (nominate) to Madeira Is, Canary Is and Cape Verde Is.

• House x Spanish Sparrow (hybrid) Passer domesticus x hispaniolensis
• Italian x Spanish Sparrow (hybrid) Passer italiae x hispaniolensis
• Spanish x Eurasian Tree Sparrow (hybrid) Passer hispaniolensis x montanus

Editor's Note: Additional distribution information for this taxon can be found in the 'Subspecies' article above. In the future we will develop a range-wide distribution article.

Predominantly moist, humid areas near water with trees and shrubs; normally associated with cultivation , extending in places into more arid steppe and semi-desert and penetrating urban areas where P. domesticus is lacking, e.g. Malta, Sardinia, Madeira, Canary Is. Outside breeding season frequently associates with P. domesticus in open areas, but is more nomadic than its congener. Normally in lowlands, but to 2750 m in Afghanistan.

Variously resident, nomadic and migratory. Those on E Atlantic islands and some populations in S of range resident; partial shift S, e.g. in Iberia and NW Africa. In E, race transcaspicus mostly migratory, after breeding moving to S Afghanistan, Pakistan and NW India, some to Arabian Peninsula; arrives in Kazakhstan from mid-Apr to early Jun, leaving from late Sept to early Nov; vast numbers on passage through passes of W Tien Shan. In addition, dispersal by post-breeding flocks in search of food can involve distances of several hundred kilometres. Vagrants recorded in British Is, the Netherlands (1 Ebels, E.B., Versteeg, G.-J. and and Bakker, G. (2015). Spaanse Mussen in Nederland in 1997–21113914. [Spanish Sparrows in the Netherlands in 1997–21113914.] Dutch Birding. 37: 69–79. In Dutch with English summary. Close ) and N Europe and, in S, accidental in winter S to 19° N in Morocco, S Saharan oases and N Sudan. Flocks apparently migrating through the Maltese Is have been recorded in Apr and Oct, moving to north and south respectively (2 Sultana, J. (2009). Spanish Sparrows apparently migrating through the Maltese Islands. British Birds. 102(10): 602. Close ).

Principally vegetable matter  , mainly seeds of grasses, cultivated crops and low herbs, but invertebrates taken throughout year. Insects eaten are mainly caterpillars (of Lepidoptera), grasshoppers (Orthoptera) and flying ants (Formicidae); beetles (Coleoptera) apparently less important than for P. domesticus. Chicks fed almost exclusively with insects  for first half of nest­ling period, followed by increasing proportion of plant material. May capture insects by searching on ground or among leaves of bushes and trees. Generally in small to large flocks.

Call an almost disyllabic "tchweep" , used by male to proclaim nest ownership, speeded up into continuous flow of rapidly repeated "cheeli-cheeli-cheeli" calls to attract a mate, louder and higher-pitched than similar calls of P. domesticus; can be heard at distance of up to several hundred metres. A similar, but softer call given at roost, when large numbers that collect together can produce quite a din. All other calls similar to those of P. domesticus, include conversational jumble of soft chirps in "social singing", nasal "chur-it-it-it" as threat, nasal "quer" or "quer-it-it" as alarm, "que que que" for contact.

Season mainly Apr–Aug in W of range, from Mar in N Africa, and Aug–Oct and Feb–Mar in Cape Verde Is; in E of range moves N (following 25°C Jul isotherm) for successive broods, breeding from end May/early Jun in NE of range; 2–4 broods. Colonial , in W of range colonies of tens to several thousands, with up to c. 125,000 nests in one colony distributed over 60 ha in Morocco, generally even larger in E, with colonies of up to several hundred thousand pairs; nests packed closely together, sometimes over 100 in one tree. Nest built by both sexes, a loosely woven, roughly spherical structure 15–30 cm in diameter, of grass and other plant stems, lined with finer grasses and feathers, firmly attached to branches of tree, in lower part of large nest of bird of prey, crow (Corvidae) or heron (Ardeidae), or on pylon; much less commonly in hole in wall or building, such sites used particularly where P. domesticus absent. Clutch 2–6 eggs, occasionally up to 8; incubation by both sexes, period 11–14 days; chicks fed by both parents, nestling period 11–15 days; fledglings  tended by both parents. Breeding success for individual nests estimated at 53–62%, but because of breeding strategy no data on annual productivity. Ringed individual survived for at least 9 years in the wild.

Not globally threatened (Least Concern). Common to locally abundant. Rough estimates in 1980s-1990s gave following figures for breeding pairs: Romania 500,000, Greece 400,000, Bulgaria 300,000, Malta 40,000, Spain and Portugal 30,000 each, with total for Europe of 1,500,000–2,500,000 pairs; several tens of thousands of pairs in Israel. Few population figures for E part of range, but extremely numerous in some areas; numbers migrating through Chokpak Pass, Kazakhstan, declined from average 35,200,000 in 1965–1981 to 11,400,000 in 2003–2005. Colonized Madeira, Canary Is and Cape Verde Is in 19th and 20th centuries; in SE Kazakhstan and NW China (Xinjiang), has extended range since 1940 as a result of increase in cereal cultivation. Increase in numbers and distribution noted since 1980 in Iberian Peninsula (Extremadura, in Spain; Alentejo, in Portugal), in Balkans, and in Middle East (where it has extended S to Saudi Arabia), and further increase also in extreme NE of range in Xinjiang, despite extensive attempts at control by local farmers; this increase and expansion largely the result of intensification of irrigated cultivation. In contrast, has declined almost to extinction on Madeira as a consequence of indiscriminate use of insecticides. Where its numbers are large, this species can become a serious pest of agriculture.