Swainson's sparrow (''Passer swainsonii'') is a species of bird in the
sparrow family
Family (from ) is a Social group, group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or Affinity (law), affinity (by marriage or other relationship). It forms the basis for social order. Ideally, families offer predictabili ...
Passeridae. Sometimes considered a
subspecies
In Taxonomy (biology), biological classification, subspecies (: subspecies) is a rank below species, used for populations that live in different areas and vary in size, shape, or other physical characteristics (Morphology (biology), morpholog ...
of the
grey-headed sparrow, it occurs in northeastern Africa, largely in the
Ethiopian Highlands
The Ethiopian Highlands (also called the Abyssinian Highlands) is a rugged mass of mountains in Ethiopia in Northeast Africa. It forms the largest continuous area of its elevation in the continent, with little of its surface falling below , whil ...
. This sparrow was named after the English
naturalist
Natural history is a domain of inquiry involving organisms, including animals, fungi, and plants, in their natural environment, leaning more towards observational than experimental methods of study. A person who studies natural history is cal ...
and illustrator
William Swainson
William Swainson Fellow of the Linnean Society, FLS, Fellow of the Royal Society, FRS (8 October 1789 – 6 December 1855), was an English ornithologist, Malacology, malacologist, Conchology, conchologist, entomologist and artist.
Life
Swains ...
.
Description
The Swainson's sparrow reaches a body length of . There is no conspicuous sexual dimorphism.
It is often considered a race of
grey-headed sparrow, but it tends to be darker, especially on the head and shoulders. There is a white bar on the shoulder, but this is not always visible. Similarly, the pale chestnut tail and rump is not always visible.
[
]
Distribution and habitat
It occurs in the highlands of Ethiopia and Somalia, and in some of Sudan, South Sudan, Eritrea, Djibouti, and Kenya.[
The habitats of the Swainson's sparrow are mountainous areas, marshes, open forest areas, savannas and shrubby grasslands. However, most often it occurs in human settlements and their surroundings. In Eritrea, it lives mostly on the open plateau at an altitude of above sea level, and in Ethiopia it occurs in areas of above sea level.][
In Ethiopian towns it is the common sparrow, similarly to the ]house sparrow
The house sparrow (''Passer domesticus'') is a bird of the Old World sparrow, 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 pa ...
in most of Eurasia.
Behaviour
Swainson's sparrows eat mostly seeds of grasses and cereals, and insects.[
The nest is a loose ball assembled from grass and feathers. A nest may be built on branches, or in the crown of palm trees, or in tree hollows. The birds also use cavities in buildings, and the old nests of the Ethiopian swallow and African sand martin. They have been observed once removing nestlings of the African sand martin to take over their nests. A clutch contains three to six eggs. They are white with brown and gray spots. The breeding season falls in Eritrea during January to March and May to November, in Ethiopia breeding may occur from April to December.][
Outside the breeding season they live in flocks, sometimes consisting of several hundred individuals. Swarms of this size can cause some damage when they come in agricultural regions and gardens.][
]
References
Works cited
*
External links
Swainson's sparrow
at the Internet Bird Collection
{{Taxonbar, from=Q1090147
Swainson's sparrow
Birds of the Horn of Africa
Fauna of the Ethiopian Highlands
Swainson's sparrow