The great sparrow (''Passer motitensis''), also known as the southern rufous sparrow, is found in southern Africa in dry, wooded

savannah A savanna or savannah is a mixed woodland-grassland (i.e. grassy woodland) ecosystem characterised by the trees being sufficiently widely spaced so that the Canopy (forest), canopy does not close. The open canopy allows sufficient light to rea ...

and towns. This is a 15–16 cm long sparrow superficially like a large

house sparrow The house sparrow (''Passer domesticus'') is a bird of the sparrow family Passeridae, found in most parts of the world. It is a small bird that has a typical length of and a mass of . Females and young birds are coloured pale brown and grey, a ...

. It has a grey crown and rear neck and rufous upperparts. While in the past some authorities considered this species and several related species of 'rufous sparrow' on the African mainland to be the same as the

Iago sparrow The Iago sparrow (''Passer iagoensis''), also known as the Cape Verde or rufous-backed sparrow, is a passerine bird of the sparrow family Passeridae. It is endemic to the Cape Verde archipelago, in the eastern Atlantic Ocean near western Africa. ...

Cape Verde , national_anthem = () , official_languages = Portuguese , national_languages = Cape Verdean Creole , capital = Praia , coordinates = , largest_city = capital , demonym ...

, they do not appear to be so closely related as thought. A few currently recognise only some of the rufous sparrows as separate from the great sparrow, but the ''

Handbook of the Birds of the World The ''Handbook of the Birds of the World'' (HBW) is a multi-volume series produced by the Spanish publishing house Lynx Edicions in partnership with BirdLife International. It is the first handbook to cover every known living species of bird. T ...

'' and

BirdLife International BirdLife International is a global partnership of non-governmental organizations that strives to conserve birds and their habitats. BirdLife International's priorities include preventing extinction of bird species, identifying and safeguarding ...

recognise the

Socotra sparrow The Socotra sparrow (''Passer insularis'') is a passerine bird endemic to the islands of Socotra, Samhah, and Darsah in the Indian Ocean, off the Horn of Africa. The taxonomy of this species and its relatives is complex, with some authorities, i ...

Kenya sparrow The Kenya sparrow (''Passer rufocinctus''), also known as the Kenya rufous sparrow, is a sparrow found in Kenya and Tanzania. It tends to be found in dry wooded savannah and agricultural areas. Some authorities have lumped the great sparrow ('' ...

Kordofan sparrow The Kordofan sparrow (''Passer cordofanicus''), also known as the Kordofan rufous sparrow, is a sparrow found only in southwestern Sudan and adjacent border regions of South Sudan and Chad. It is frequently considered a subspecies of the Kenya ...

, and

Shelley's sparrow Shelley's sparrow (''Passer shelleyi''), also known as Shelley's rufous sparrow or the White Nile rufous sparrow, is a sparrow found in eastern Africa from South Sudan, southern Ethiopia, and north-western Somalia to northern Uganda and north-w ...

as separate species.

References

Works cited

* * * *

External links

Southern Rufous Sparrow
at the Internet Bird Collection
Great Sparrow species text
in The Atlas of Southern African Birds

great sparrow The great sparrow (''Passer motitensis''), also known as the southern rufous sparrow, is found in southern Africa in dry, wooded savannah and towns. This is a 15–16 cm long sparrow superficially like a large house sparrow. It has a ...

Birds of Southern Africa

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