Sind sparrow

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Sind sparrow
Male at Head Marala, Punjab, Pakistan
Calls (recorded in Bikaner)

Least Concern  (IUCN 3.1)[1]
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Aves
Order: Passeriformes
Family: Passeridae
Genus: Passer
Species:
P. pyrrhonotus
Binomial name
Passer pyrrhonotus
Blyth, 1845
Approximate limits of the Sind sparrow's breeding (green) and winter dispersal (sky blue) range, within which it is very local

The Sind sparrow (Passer pyrrhonotus) is a

Indus valley region in South Asia specially Sindh. It is also known as the jungle, Sind jungle, or rufous-backed sparrow. Very similar to the related house sparrow, it is smaller and has distinguishing plumage features. As in the house sparrow, the male has brighter plumage than female and young birds, including black markings and a grey crown. Distinctively, the male has a chestnut stripe running down its head behind the eye, and the female has a darker head than other sparrow species. Its main vocalisations
are soft chirping calls that are extended into longer songs with other sounds interspersed by breeding males. Historically, this species was thought to be very closely related to the house sparrow, but its closest evolutionary affinities may lie elsewhere. The species was discovered around 1840, but went undetected for several decades afterwards.

Within its Indus valley breeding range in

least concern on the IUCN Red List
. The Sind sparrow is social while feeding and gathers in small groups both while breeding and during winter dispersal. It feeds mostly on seeds and less often on insects, foraging close to the ground. Nests are made in the branches of thorny trees, and are untidy globular masses constructed from grass or other plant matter and lined with softer material. Both sexes are involved in building the nest and caring for the young, and usually raise two clutches of three to five young each breeding season.

Description

Female at National Capital Region, Delhi.

The Sind sparrow is very similar to the house sparrow, and both sexes resemble their counterparts of that species, but it is slightly smaller and males and females each have features that distinguish them as Sind sparrows. The Sind sparrow is 13 cm (5.1 in) long, while the common South Asian subspecies of the house sparrow, Passer domesticus indicus, is 15 cm (5.9 in) long. Wingspans range from 6.2 to 7.0 cm (2.4 to 2.8 in), tails from 4.7 to 5.7 cm (1.9 to 2.2 in), and tarsi measure 1.6–1.9 centimetres (0.63–0.75 in).[2]

The breeding male has a short and narrow black bib and a broad chestnut eye stripe that does not meet the

culmen length of 1.1–1.3 centimetres (0.43–0.51 in), the Sind sparrow is slightly smaller-billed than the house sparrow.[2][3]

The Sind sparrow's chirping chup call is softer, less strident, and higher pitched than that of the house sparrow, and is easily distinguished.[7][8] The song of breeding males includes chirrups interspersed with grating t-r-r-rt notes and short warbles or whistles.[7][8][9]

Taxonomy

Illustration of a pair by John Gerrard Keulemans, 1888

The Sind sparrow was first formally described by

Claud Ticehurst both found that the two species bred in the same areas without interbreeding.[2][20]

The specific epithet of the Sind sparrow, pyrrhonotus, comes from the

IOC World Bird List, until Sind sparrow was adopted in 2009.[22]

The Sind sparrow is a member of the genus Passer, which contains the house sparrow and around twenty other species.[23] In a 1936 review of the house sparrow's relatives, German ornithologist Wilhelm Meise suggested that the Sind sparrow evolved from an isolated population of house sparrows, noting that the Indus valley is a centre of small bird types.[24]

British ornithologist

Palaearctic black-bibbed sparrow" group, are not phylogenetically closely related with the house sparrow. But there is more or less conflict between the two studies (and between different analyses), some clades are not highly supported, and the Sind sparrow was not included, so the evolutionary history of Sind sparrow and its relationship to other sparrow species remain unclear.[27][28]

Hume and Ticehurst observed a resemblance, and a possible relation, between the Sind sparrow and the Dead Sea sparrow of the Middle East and Balochistan.

Abd al-Kuri, in their 1899 description of that species,[29] noted upon by Guy M. Kirwan in a 2008 study.[30]

Distribution and habitat

Nest at Sultanpur National Park in India

The Sind sparrow has a restricted distribution, primarily occurring within the Indus valley of Pakistan, and the lower parts of the tributaries of the Indus in the

least concern on the IUCN Red List.[1]

During winter, it often makes short-distance movements, and some birds move into parts of western Pakistan and an adjoining corner of Iran, and less commonly north-western Gujarat, India.[3][33][36] Longer movements may occur, as suggested by a possible sighting in the United Arab Emirates in November 2000.[26]

It mostly breeds in

tamarisk scrub and tall grass, invariably near rivers or other wetlands.[37] The construction and expansion of irrigation canals has increased its habitat in Sindh, and helped it extend its range into the Yamuna floodplain and parts of Rajasthan, India.[32][33][38] It may breed around rice paddies and other fields, or human habitations, provided that there is enough cover and suitable nesting sites. In winter, it moves away from its main riverine habitat, and into drier thickets characterised by Salvadora and Capparis bushes, but never moves too far from water.[31]

Behaviour

The Sind sparrow is gregarious, generally forming small groups of four to six birds while feeding. It tends to breed in loose colonies of a few pairs, and non-breeding birds may gather to roost in acacias or tamarisks near water.[33][39] During winter, the non-breeding season, it forms larger flocks of as many as 30 birds, and joins flocks with other seed-eating birds, such as house sparrows and red avadavats.[39][40] The Sind sparrow feeds mainly on the seeds of grasses and other plants such as Polygonum plebeium. It may also forage for insects such as caterpillars, especially to feed nestlings.[7] Flocks forage on flats alongside rivers, flying into nearby bushes and continuing to forage when disturbed.[8]

Nesting occurs during a period of several months between April and September, the timing depending on rainfall, during which two clutches are raised by most pairs. Sind sparrows build nests in the upper branches of thorny trees or the ends of thin branches hanging over water.[3][20][41] The nest is an untidy dome of grass and other plant matter, such as tamarisk twigs, roots, and reeds, with a diameter of about 9 to 18 cm (3.5 to 7.1 in). The nest has an entrance located higher up on the sides, is somewhat flat on top, and is lined with softer plant material and feathers.[42] The birds may sometimes build below the nests of egrets or extend the nest of a baya weaver or Indian pied myna.[32][43] Both the male and female take part in nest building and incubation.[8] Clutches typically contain three to five eggs.[7] Scrope Doig described the eggs as being markedly smaller than the house sparrow's, measuring 0.7 × 0.5 in (1.3 × 1.8 cm) and similarly greenish or greyish with highly variable blotches, striations, and other markings.[44]

References

  1. ^
    doi:10.2305/IUCN.UK.2016-3.RLTS.T22718183A94571377.en
    . Retrieved 19 November 2021.
  2. ^ a b c d e f Summers-Smith 1988, pp. 194–195
  3. ^ a b c d e Rasmussen & Anderton 2005, p. 575
  4. ^ Currie, A. J. (1916). "The Birds of Lahore and the Vicinity". Journal of the Bombay Natural History Society. 24 (3): 561–577. Archived from the original on 28 July 2014. Retrieved 19 February 2018.
  5. ^ Porter, Christensen & Schiermacker-Hansen 1996, p. 410
  6. ^ Oates 1890, pp. 238–239
  7. ^ a b c d Summers-Smith 1988, p. 198
  8. ^ a b c d Ali & Ripley 1999, pp. 76–77
  9. ^ Currie, A. J. (1909). "The Rufous-backed Sparrow (Passer pyrrhonotus) nesting in the Punjab". Journal of the Bombay Natural History Society. 19 (1): 259–260. Archived from the original on 3 March 2016. Retrieved 19 February 2018.
  10. ^ Blyth, E. (1845). "Synopsis of Indian Fringillidae". Journal of the Asiatic Society of Bengal. XIII (156): 944–963.
  11. ^ Whistler, H. (1925). "A note on the weavers and finches of the Punjab. Part 2". Journal of the Bombay Natural History Society. 30 (2): 406–417. Archived from the original on 4 September 2017. Retrieved 19 February 2018.
  12. ^ Dickinson, E. C.; Pittie, A. (21 December 2006). "Systematic notes on Asian birds. 51. Dates of avian names introduced in early volumes of the Journal of the Asiatic Society of Bengal". Zoologische Mededelingen. 80–5 (3). Leiden: 113–124. Archived from the original on 24 July 2011. Retrieved 18 August 2010.
  13. ^ Blanford 1876, p. 255
  14. ^ a b Hume, A. O. (1880). "Notes". Stray Feathers. 9 (3): 232–234. Archived from the original on 4 September 2017. Retrieved 19 February 2018.
  15. ^ Hume 1873, p. 209
  16. ^ Doig, S. B. (1880). "Birds Nesting on the Eastern Narra. Additions and Alterations". Stray Feathers. 9 (4): 277–282. Archived from the original on 4 September 2017. Retrieved 19 February 2018.
  17. ^ a b Hume, A. O. (1881). "Passer pyrrhonotus, Blyth". Stray Feathers. 9 (5&6): 442–445. Archived from the original on 4 September 2017. Retrieved 19 February 2018.
  18. ^ James, H. E. M. (1893). "Sind as a Field for the Naturalist". Journal of the Bombay Natural History Society. 8: 322–325. Archived from the original on 4 September 2017. Retrieved 19 February 2018.
  19. ^ Hartert 1903, p. 151
  20. ^ a b c d Ticehurst 1922, pp. 651–653
  21. ^ Jobling 2010, p. 237
  22. ^ Gill, F.; Donsker, D., eds. (2011). "English Name Updates". IOC World Bird Names (version 2.10). Archived from the original on 7 November 2011. Retrieved 7 November 2011.
  23. ^ Summers-Smith 1992, pp. 3, 6
  24. S2CID 39371043
    .
  25. ^ Summers-Smith 1988, pp. 279–280, 288–289, 304–305
  26. ^ a b Summers-Smith 2009, p. 795
  27. S2CID 21782750. Archived from the original
    (PDF) on 21 July 2011.
  28. ISSN 2625-8498
    .
  29. ^ Ogilvie-Grant, W. R.; Forbes, Henry O. (May 1899). "The Expedition to Sokotra I. Descriptions of the New Species of Birds". Bulletin of the Liverpool Museums Under the City Council. II (1): 2–3. Archived from the original on 20 August 2018. Retrieved 19 February 2018.
  30. ^ Kirwan, Guy M. (2008). "Studies of Socotran Birds III. Morphological and mensural evidence for a 'new' species in the Rufous Sparrow Passer motitensis complex endemic to the island of Abd 'Al Kuri, with the validation of Passer insularis Sclater & Hartlaub, 1881". Bulletin of the British Ornithologists' Club. 128 (2): 83–93. Archived from the original on 20 October 2016. Retrieved 20 August 2018.
  31. ^ a b c Summers-Smith 1988, pp. 195–196
  32. ^ a b c Harvey, B; Sharma, S. C. (2002). "The initial colonisation of the Yamuna flood plain by the Sind Sparrow Passer pyrrhonotus". Journal of the Bombay Natural History Society. 99 (1): 35–43.
  33. ^ a b c d e Roberts 1992, pp. 478–480
  34. ^ Scott, Derek A. (2008). "Rare Birds in Iran in the Late 1960s and 1970s" (PDF). Podoces. 3 (1/2): 1–30. Archived from the original (PDF) on 24 July 2011.
  35. ^ Roselaar, Cees S.; Aliabadiani, Mansour (2009). "Review of Rare Birds in Iran, 1860s–1960s" (PDF). Podoces. 4 (1): 1–27. Archived (PDF) from the original on 24 July 2011. Retrieved 21 August 2010.
  36. ^ Bapat, N. N. (1992). "Sind Jungle Sparrow Passer pyrrhonotus Blyth in North-West Gujarat". Journal of the Bombay Natural History Society. 89 (3): 378. Archived from the original on 4 September 2017. Retrieved 19 February 2018.
  37. ^ Clement, Harris & Davis 1993, p. 448
  38. ^ Sangha, Harkirat Singh; Kulshreshtha, Manoj (2008). "Locations of Sind Sparrow sightings along the Rajasthan Canal and the River Sutlej". Journal of the Bombay Natural History Society. 105 (1): 91–92. Archived from the original on 4 September 2017. Retrieved 19 February 2018.
  39. ^ a b Summers-Smith 1988, p. 196
  40. doi:10.1111/j.1474-919x.1922.tb01318.x. Archived
    from the original on 8 August 2018. Retrieved 19 February 2018.
  41. ^ Baker 1926, p. 174
  42. ^ Summers-Smith 1988, pp. 197–198
  43. ^ Jones, A. E. (1912). "Notes on Birds from Lahore". Journal of the Bombay Natural History Society. 21 (3): 1073–1074. Archived from the original on 11 October 2016. Retrieved 19 February 2018.
  44. ^ Hume 1889, p. 162

Works cited

External links

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