Sudan Golden Sparrow

Taxobox
name = Sudan Golden Sparrow
status = LC | status_system = IUCN3.1
regnum = Animalia
phylum = Chordata
classis = Aves
ordo = Passeriformes
familia = Passeridae
genus = "Passer"
species = "P. luteus"
binomial = "Passer luteus"
binomial_authority = (Lichtenstein, 1823)

The Sudan Golden Sparrow or Golden Song Sparrow, "Passer luteus", is a small bird in the sparrow family. It breeds across sub-Saharan Africa from Nigeria east to Sudan, Ethiopia and southwestern Arabia. It is a popular cage bird.

It is a bird of dry open savanna, semi-desert, arid scrub and cereal cultivation. It breeds in large colonies and builds a very large, untidy, domed nest of twigs in a tree. The feather-lined nest chamber holds a typical clutch of three to four dark-spotted white eggs.

The Sudan Golden Sparrow is 12-13 cm long. The male has a bright yellow head and underparts, with the wings and back deep brown in colour. There are two white wingbars. In the breeding season the male's plumage is brighter, and the bill changes colour from horn to shiny black.

The female and young birds have a pale sandy brown head and upperparts, and lighter brown wings. The throat is pale yellow fading to whitish on the underparts. After about 10 weeks young males may start to get a yellow wash around the shoulder area.

Sudan Golden Sparrow is a highly gregarious and nomadic bird and will form mixed flocks with finches, such as Red-billed Quelea, and other sparrows. Evening roosts, often in cities like Khartoum, may number hundreds of thousands of birds. It eats seeds and takes some insects, especially when feeding young. The call is a typical sparrow's "chirp".

References

* Database entry includes justification for why this species is of least concern

* "Finches and Sparrows" by Clement, Harris and Davis, ISBN 0-7136-8017-2