Alternative names: Yellow-spotted Bush-Sparrow; Abyssinian Yellow-throated Sparrow; Sudan Rock-Sparrow; Sudan Petronia; Yellow-spotted Rock-Sparrow
- Petronia pyrgita
Gymnoris pyrgita
Identification
15 - 16cm.
- Unstreaked ashy-grey to ashy-brown above
- White ring around eye
- Dark brown tail
- Whitish chin and throat
- Indistinct yellow throat spot, often only visible when the bird is calling or completely absent
- Greyish breast
- Dirty white rest of underparts
- Pinkish-horn bill
Sexes are similar. Juveniles are browner and have a more conspicuous light buff supercilium.
Distribution
Patchily distributed in the Sahel south of the Sahara in Africa and in eastern Africa south to northern Tanzania.
Common but local in most of its range.
Taxonomy
Two subspecies recongized:
- P. p. pallida from southern Mauritania and Senegal east to Sudan
- P. p. pyrgita in Eritrea, Ethiopia, Sudan and Somalia and south to Uganda, Kenya and northern Tanzania
Some authorities place this species in genus Gymnoris.
Yellow-spotted Petronia was split from Yellow-throated Petronia and Chestnut-shouldered Petronia.
Habitat
Dry savanna and dry lowland grassland. Also in cultivation. Occurs up to 1800m.
Behaviour
Feeds on berries of toothbrush tree, seeds and insects. Forages in trees and on the ground.
Often seen in pairs or small flocks, also together with small Weavers.
Breeding season June to August in western part of range, March to April in Kenya. The nest is made of hairs, feathers and other soft material. It's placed in a hole in a tree branch or a sand cliff. Lays 3 - 5 eggs.
A nomadic species.
References
- Clements, JF. 2009. The Clements Checklist of Birds of the World. 6th ed., with updates to December 2009. Ithaca: Cornell Univ. Press. ISBN 978-0801445019.
- 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. (2024) Yellow-spotted Bush Sparrow. In: BirdForum, the forum for wild birds and birding. Retrieved 17 May 2024 from https://www.birdforum.net/opus/Yellow-spotted_Bush_Sparrow
