Saxaul sparrow
Saxaul sparrow | |
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A breeding male of the subspecies ammodendri in southeastern Kazakhstan | |
Scientific classification | |
Domain: | Eukaryota |
Kingdom: | Animalia |
Phylum: | Chordata |
Class: | Aves |
Order: | Passeriformes |
Family: | Passeridae |
Genus: | Passer |
Species: | P. ammodendri
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Binomial name | |
Passer ammodendri Gould, 1872
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Approximate range of the saxaul sparrow | |
Synonyms | |
Passer ammodendri Severtzov, 1873 |
The saxaul sparrow (Passer ammodendri) is a passerine bird of the sparrow family Passeridae, found in parts of Central Asia. At 14–16 centimetres (5.5–6.3 in) and 25–32 grams (0.88–1.13 oz), it is among the larger sparrows. Both sexes have plumage ranging from dull grey to sandy brown, and pale brown legs. Females have less boldly coloured plumage and bills, lacking the pattern of black stripes on the male's head. The head markings of both sexes make the saxaul sparrow distinctive, and unlikely to be confused with any other bird. Vocalisations include a comparatively soft and musical chirping call, a song, and a flight call.
Three subspecies are recognised, differing in the overall tone of their plumage and in the head striping of the female. The subspecies ammodendri occurs in the west of the saxaul sparrow's range, while stoliczkae and nigricans occur in the east. This distribution falls into six probably disjunct areas across Central Asia, from central Turkmenistan to northern Gansu in China. A bird of deserts, the saxaul sparrow favours areas with shrubs such as the saxaul, near rivers and oases. Though it has lost parts of its range to habitat destruction caused by agriculture, it is not seriously threatened by human activities.
Little is known of the saxaul sparrow's behaviour. Often hidden in foliage, it forages in trees and on the ground. It feeds mostly on seeds, as well as insects while breeding and as a nestling. When not breeding it forms wandering flocks, but it is less social than other sparrows while breeding, often nesting in isolated pairs. Nests are round bundles of dry plant material lined with soft materials such as feathers. They are built in holes in tree cavities, earth banks, rocky slopes, and within man-made structures or the nests of birds of prey. Two clutches of five or six eggs are typically laid in a season. Both parents construct the nest and care for their eggs and young.
Description
The saxaul sparrow is one of the larger sparrows at 14–16 centimetres (5.5–6.3 in) and 25–32 grams (0.88–1.13 oz).[2] Wing length varies from 7.1 to 8.1 centimetres (2.8 to 3.2 in), with males generally being larger.[3] The tail is short at 6.3–6.95 centimetres (2.48–2.74 in). The saxaul sparrow's legs are pale or pinkish brown, with a tarsus length of 1.95 inches (50 mm). Its bill is 1.0–1.3 centimetres (0.39–0.51 in) long, pale grey on the juvenile, pale yellowish with a black tip on the breeding female, and black on the breeding male.[3] Like all other sparrows, it flies swiftly and often at height.[4][5]
Distinctive markings, especially on its head, make the saxaul sparrow unlikely to be confused with any other bird.
The male saxaul sparrow has bold markings, with a black stripe along the top of its head and another through its eye. It has black feathering, or a "bib", on its throat and upper belly.[3] By comparison to other sparrows this is thin on the throat, but wide on the breast.[6] The male has a bright russet patch on the sides of its crown and nape.[7] Its cheeks are pale grey or buff, and its underparts are whitish, tinged buff or grey on its sides. Its back is grey or warm brown, streaked variably with black. Its shoulders are more lightly streaked with black bars.[3] The male's thin tail is brown, with the edges and tips of feathers paler. Its median coverts are black with a white tip, while its other wing feathers are variably dark brown, cinnamon, or black, tipped buff or whitish and edged grey.[3] The non-breeding male differs in having slightly paler plumage.[9]
The female is similar in some ways to the male, but paler and duller. It is sandy grey or brown, with a back patterned like that of the male, and white or whitish underparts. The head of the females of the subspecies ammodendri and nigricans is dingy grey with darker smudges on the forehead, behind its eyes, and on its throat.[3] The female of the subspecies stoliczkae is buff-brown with a white throat, a conspicuous pale supercilium, darker forehead, and lighter cheeks.[3] The juvenile is similar to the female, differing in its lack of dark tinges on its throat and crown.[3] In adults, moulting begins in July and ends in late August or early September. The post-juvenile moult is complete, and occurs variously from June to August.[10]
The saxaul sparrow's vocalisations are little reported.[2][10] Its common call is a chirp, transcribed as cheerp cheerp, softer and more melodious than that of the house sparrow.[2][3][11] It gives a flight call transcribed as twerp, and a song described by Russian naturalist V. N. Shnitnikov as "not loud, but pleasantly melodious with fairly diversified intonations".[2][10]
Taxonomy
The saxaul sparrow was first described by English zoologist
The saxaul sparrow's relations within the genus Passer are unclear, although with its black throat feathering it has usually been considered part of the "Palaearctic black-bibbed sparrow" group related to the house sparrow.
Across its Central Asian distribution, the saxaul sparrow occurs in six probably
Habitat
The saxaul sparrow is found in remote parts of
Behaviour
Little is known of the saxaul sparrow's behaviour, because of its remote range. It is shy in many areas, and spends much time hidden in foliage, but breeding birds in Mongolia were reported to be "quite confiding".
The saxaul sparrow is less social than other sparrows while breeding, due to its dry habitat and its choices of nesting locations, holes in trees and earth banks.
The saxaul sparrow's nests are untidy dome-shaped constructions, with an entrance in the side or top. They are built of
References
- ^ . Retrieved 13 November 2021.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j Summers-Smith 2009, p. 793
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r Clement, Harris & Davis 1993, pp. 442–443
- ^ Dresser 1902, pp. 292–293
- ^ Clement, Harris & Davis 1993, p. 4
- ^ a b c Summers-Smith 1988, pp. 245–246
- ^ a b c d e f Densley, Michael (1991). "Saxaul Sparrow in Mongolia" (PDF). Dutch Birding. 12 (1): 5–9. Retrieved 2 August 2010.
- ^ a b c d Summers-Smith 1988, pp. 249–250
- ^ a b c d Sharpe 1888, pp. 337–339
- ^ a b c d e f g h Summers-Smith 1988, p. 252
- ^ a b Flint et al. 1984, pp. 295–296
- ^ Gould 1883, p. 15
- ^ Vaurie 1956, pp. 7–8
- ^ Hartert 1903, pp. 158–159
- ^ Dode, Charles (1871). "Mons. C. Dode on Animals from Amoor Land". Proceedings of the Zoological Society of London: 480–481.
- ^ Dresser, H. E. (1875). "Notes on Severtzoff's 'Fauna of Turkestan' (Turkistanskie Jevolnie)". The Ibis. 3. 5.
- ^ Jobling 1991, p. 10
- ^ Carruthers 1949, p. 53
- ^ Summers-Smith 1992, pp. 3, 6
- ^ Zarudny, N. (1890). Орнитолгическая Фауна: Оьласт Аму-Дарьи Между гг. Чарджуемъ и Келифомъ [Ornithological Fauna: Oblast Amu-Darya Between the Cities of Chardzhuem and Kelifom]. Bulletin de la Société Impériale des Naturalistes de Moscou. new series (in Russian). 4 (1).
- ^ Richmond 1909, p. 588
- ^ Summers-Smith 1988, pp. 279–280, 288–289
- ^ Zarudny, N.; Härms, M. (1902). "Neue Vogelarten". Ornithologische Monatsberichte (in German) (4): 49–55.
- ^ Summers-Smith 1988, pp. 246–249
- ^ Ayé, Raffael (2008). "Saxaul Sparrows in Iran in 2004". Dutch Birding. 30: 315–316.
- ^ Hume, A. O. (1874). "Novelties". Stray Feathers. 2: 503–522.
- ^ Hellmayr 1929, pp. 58–59
- .
- hdl:2246/1116.
- ^ a b Summers-Smith 1988, pp. 245–251
- ^ a b c d Gavrilov & Gavrilov 2005, pp. 153–154
- ^ Summers-Smith 1992, pp. 121–123
- ^ Liu, Nai-Fa; Huang, Zu-Hao; Wu, Hong-Bin; Liu, Rong-Guo; Hao, Yao-Ming (2002). "Growth and decline of animal resource in Shapotou National Nature Reserve, Ningxia". Biodiversity Science. 10 (2): 156–162.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i Summers-Smith 1988, p. 251
- ^ Summers-Smith 1988, pp. 268–269
- ^ . Retrieved 24 February 2010.
- ^ Sellin, Dietrich; Tischler, Peter (2009). "Ungewoehnlicher Nistplatz des Saxaulsperlings Passer ammodendri in Kasachstan". Ornithologische Mitteilungen (in German). 61 (4): 116–118.
- ^ Ogilvie-Grant 1912, p. 209
Works cited
- Carruthers, Douglas (1949). Beyond the Caspian. Edinburgh: Oliver and Boyd.
- Clement, Peter; Harris, Alan; Davis, John (1993). Finches and Sparrows: an Identification Guide. Princeton, New Jersey: Princeton University Press. ISBN 0-691-03424-9.
- Dresser, H. E. (1902). A Manual of Palæarctic Birds, Part I. London: Self-published.
- Flint, Vladimir E.; Boehme, R. L.; Kostin, Y. V.; Kuznetsov, A. A. (1984). A Field Guide to the Birds of the USSR, including Eastern Europe and Central Asia. Princeton, New Jersey: Princeton University Press.
- Gavrilov, Edward I.; Gavrilov, Andrey E. (2005). Tethys Ornithological Research, Volume II: The Birds of Kazakhstan (abridged ed.). Almaty: Tethys Society. ISBN 9965-9457-9-9.
- Gould, John (1883). The Birds of Asia. Vol. V. London: Self-published.
- Hartert, Ernst (1903). Die Vögel der paläarktischen Fauna. Systematische Übersicht der in Europa, Nord-Asien und der Mittelmeerregion vorkommenden Vögel (in German). Vol. I. Berlin: R. Friedlander und Sohn.
- Hellmayr, C. E. (1929). "Birds of the James Simpson-Roosevelts Asiatic expedition". Fieldiana Zoology. 17 (3): 27–144.
- Jobling, James A. (1991). A Dictionary of Scientific Bird Names. Oxford: ISBN 0-19-854634-3.
- Ogilvie-Grant, W. R. (1912). Catalogue of the collection of birds' eggs in the British Museum (Natural History). Volume V: Carinatæ (Passeriformes completed). London: Taylor and Francis.
- Richmond, Charles W. (1909). "Generic Names Applied to Birds During the Years 1901 to 1905 Inclusive With Further Additions to Waterhouse's 'Index Generum Avium'". Proceedings of the United States National Museum. 35 (1656): 583–655. .
- Sharpe, R. Bowdler (1888). Catalogue of the Passeriformes, or Perching Birds, in the Collection of the British Museum. Fringilliformes: Part III. Containing the Family Fringillidæ. Vol. XII. London: Taylor and Francis.
- Summers-Smith, J. Denis (1988). The Sparrows: a study of the genus Passer. illustrated by ISBN 0-85661-048-8.
- Summers-Smith, J. Denis (1992). In Search of Sparrows. illustrated by Euan Dunn. London: T. & A. D. Poyser. ISBN 0-85661-073-9.
- Summers-Smith, J. Denis (2009). "Family Passeridae (Old World Sparrows)". In del Hoyo, Josep; Elliott, Andrew; Christie, David (eds.). ISBN 978-84-96553-50-7.
- Vaurie, Charles (1956). "Systematic notes on Palearctic birds. No. 24, Ploceidae, the genera Passer, Petronia, and Montifringilla". American Museum Novitates (1814). hdl:2246/5394.
External links
- Saxaul sparrow at the Internet Bird Collection
- Saxaul sparrow at Birds of Kazakhstan
- Recording of the saxaul sparrow's song
- Saxaul sparrow at Oriental Bird Images