Alternative name: Kordofan Rufous Sparrow
- Passer cordofanicus
Identification
13 - 15cm.
Male
- Blue grey crown, chestnut upper mantle, blue-grey ear-coverts and white cheek
- Black lores, chin and throat
- Broad chestnut band extending from above eye around rear of ear-coverts and on neck side forward, black line underneath
- Rufous chestnut lower mantle to upertail-coverts, streaked black on mantle and uper back
- Blackish to dark brown upperwing
- Broad white tips on median coverts
- Dark brown tail
- Whitish underparts
- Horn-coloured bill, blackish in breeding season
Female
- Similar to male but slightly duller
- Dark grey bib
- Chestnut replaced by buff
Juveniles are similar to females but they look paler and washed-out.
Similar species
Smaller than Great Sparrow. Note also paler eye, greyer face and more grey on neck and mantle (especially in nominate).
Distribution
Found in eastern Chad and western Sudan (Darfur and Kordofan).
Common in its small range.
Taxonomy
This is a monotypic species.
It has been considered conspecific with Kenya Sparrow and Shelley's Sparrow in the past.
Habitat
Arid country, often near villages and surrounding cultivated land.
Behaviour
Feeds on grain, small seeds and domestic scrap. Nestlings are fed with insects.
Feeds mainly on ground.
Breeds from June to September in Chad and September to November in Sudan. The nest is a dome with a side entrance made of grasses and placed in a tree. Takes sometimes abandonend nests of weavers. Lays 3 - 5 eggs.
References
- Clements, JF. 2010. The Clements Checklist of Birds of the World. 6th ed., with updates to December 2010. Ithaca: Cornell Univ. Press. ISBN 978-0801445019. Spreadsheet available at http://www.birds.cornell.edu/clementschecklist/Clements%206.5.xls/view
- 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) Kordofan Sparrow. In: BirdForum, the forum for wild birds and birding. Retrieved 9 May 2025 from https://www.birdforum.net/opus/Kordofan_Sparrow
