Northern Grey-headed Sparrow

Northern Grey-headed Sparrow
An adult in Rwanda
Conservation status
Least Concern (IUCN 3.1)[1]
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Aves
Order:	Passeriformes
Suborder:	Passeri
Infraorder:	Passerida
Superfamily:	Passeroidea
Family:	Passeridae
Genus:	Passer
Species:	P. griseus
Binomial name
Passer griseus (Vieillot, 1817)

The Northern Grey-headed Sparrow (Passer griseus), also known as the Grey-headed Sparrow or Common Grey-headed Sparrow, is a resident breeding bird species in much of tropical Africa. It occurs in a wide range of open habitats, including open woodlands and human habitation, often occupying the same niche as the House Sparrow.

The adult Northern Grey-headed Sparrow has a pale grey head with a white moustache stripe, pale brown upperparts, whitish underparts and chestnut wings with a small white shoulder patch. The sexes are similar, but young birds are slightly duller and lack the white wing patch.

There are three subspecies, differing in plumage tone, especially with regard to the darkness of the head.

This sparrow is mainly resident in its range, but there is some seasonal movement, and flocks of up to 50 birds form outside the breeding season.

It builds a cup nest in trees, thatch, or old nests of other birds; 2–4 eggs are laid.

This species feeds principally on seeds and grain, like other sparrows, but will readily take insects including termites, especially when feeding young.

The calls include cheeps and chirps, and the typical sparrow churring alarm call.

The Northern Grey-headed Sparrow is replaced in eastern and southern Africa by very similar birds that are sometimes considered races of this species: Swainson's Sparrow, the Parrot-billed Sparrow, the Swahili Sparrow, and the Southern Grey-headed Sparrow.

The phylogeny has been obtained by Antonio Arnaiz-Villena et al.^[2]

References

1. ^ BirdLife International (2009). "Passer griseus". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Version 2009.2. International Union for Conservation of Nature. http://www.iucnredlist.org/apps/redlist/details/149110. 
2. ^ Allende, Luis M.; Rubio, Isabel; Ruíz-del-Valle, Valentin; Guillén, Jesus; Martínez-Laso, Jorge; Lowy, Ernesto; Varela, Pilar; Zamora, Jorge; Arnaiz-Villena, Antonio (2001). "The Old World sparrows (genus Passer) phylogeography and their relative abundance of nuclear mtDNA pseudogenes" (PDF). Journal of Molecular Evolution 53 (2): 144–154. PMID 11479685. Archived from the original on 21 July 2011. http://web.archive.org/web/20110721034443/http://chopo.pntic.mec.es/~biolmol/publicaciones/Passer.pdf. 

• Clement, Peter; Harris, Alan; Davis, John (1993). Finches and Sparrows: an Identification Guide. Princeton, New Jersey: Princeton University Press. ISBN 0-691-03424-9. 

External links

• Common Grey-headed Sparrow at the Internet Bird Collection