- Passer ammodendri
Identification
14 - 16cm (5½-6¼ in)
Male
- Black central forehead, crown and nape
- Broad tawny-white supercilium
- Black lores
- Narrow black line behind eye curving downwards around rear of pale grey ear-coverts
- Paler grey to whitish cheeks
- Pale sandy grey upperparts, mantle with heavy black streaks (stoliczkae with more warm brown upperparts)
- Broad white wing-bar
- Black bib from chin to uppermost breast
- Dirty white underparts
Female
- Basic pattern similar to male
- Colours more muted and less contrasting
- Tawny colour on head absent or indistinct
Juveniles resemble females
Similar species
The female looks like a very pale female House Sparrow.
Distribution
Occurs in central Asia from Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan to Turkmenistan, China and Mongolia.
Status and population size poorly known.
Taxonomy
Subspecies
Three subspecies are recognized[1]:
- P. a. ammodendri in southern Kazakhstan, northern Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan and probably northeast Iran
- P. a. nigricans North West China (northern Xinjiang to Manas River valley)
- P. a. stoliczkae in China from southern Xinjiang east to Inner Mongolia and northern Ningxia and south-central Mongolia
The proposed subspecies korejewi is currently included in the nominate, timidius in stoliczkae
Habitat
River valleys in desert and semi-desert. Prefers saxaul but also found in poplar and tamarisk.
Behaviour
Diet
Feeds on seeds (particulary of saxaul), takes also insects. Nestlings are fed with insects.
Forages in mixed flocks with other sparrows.
Breeding
Breeding season from May to July. Breeds solitary or in loose colonies often mixed with House Sparrow and Eurasian Tree Sparrow. The nest is a loose doomed structure made of grass. It's usually placed in a hole or hollow in a tree, sometimes in the nest of a bird of prey, a earth bank or an isolated building. Lays 4 - 6 eggs.
Movements
A sedentary species. Some populations may winter south of breeding range.
References
- Clements, J. F., T. S. Schulenberg, M. J. Iliff, D. Roberson, T. A. Fredericks, B. L. Sullivan, and C. L. Wood. 2016. The eBird/Clements checklist of birds of the world: v2016, with updates to August 2016. Downloaded from http://www.birds.cornell.edu/clementschecklist/download/
- Del Hoyo, J, A Elliott, and D Christie, eds. 2009. Handbook of the Birds of the World. Volume 14: Bush-shrikes to Old World Sparrows. Barcelona: Lynx Edicions. ISBN 978-8496553507
Recommended Citation
- BirdForum Opus contributors. (2025) Saxaul Sparrow. In: BirdForum, the forum for wild birds and birding. Retrieved 25 January 2025 from https://www.birdforum.net/opus/Saxaul_Sparrow
External Links
GSearch checked for 2020 platform.1
