Desert sparrow

This article is about the Old World bird. For the North
American bird, see Black-throated sparrow.
The desert sparrow (Passer simplex) is a bird of the
sparrow family Passeridae, found in the Sahara Desert,
Central Asia, and Iran.
Two subspecies occur in some of driest parts of the Sa-
hara Desert in northern Africa, and a distinct subspecies
occurs in areas of Iran, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan.
The Asian subspecies may be a separate species, and
is called the Asian desert sparrow or Zarudnys sparrow
(Passer simplex zarudnyi). According to Guy Kirwan and
colleagues, the Asian birds are separate under any deni-
tions of species except the biological species concept.[1]
BirdLife International, and therefore the IUCN Red List,
recognise both species.[2][3]
The desert sparrow is not afraid to come near humans and
sometimes builds nests in muddy walls. The Mozabite
Berbers build their homes with holes in the walls to wel-
come these birds, which they call bar-rode, and if one
sings all day in the house, they say this is a sign of good
news. The Tuareg, who call the bird moula-moula, also
say that this bird brings good news when it comes to stay
near the camp.[4]
This bird is becoming scarcer as a result of habitat
destruction. The IUCN Red List nonetheless classi-
es both species it recognises as being of least con-
cern for conservation,[2][3] as it did before the split was
recognised.[5]
1 References
[1] Kirwan, Guy M.; Schweitzer, Manuel; Ay, Raael;
Grieve, Andrew (2009). Taxonomy, identication and
status of Desert Sparrows (PDF). Dutch Birding. 31:
139158. Archived from the original (PDF) on 27 July
2011.
[2] BirdLife International (2012). "Passer zarudnyi". IUCN
Red List of Threatened Species. Version 2012.1.
International Union for Conservation of Nature. Re-
trieved 5 October 2012.
[3] BirdLife International (2012). "Passer simplex". IUCN
Red List of Threatened Species. Version 2012.1.
International Union for Conservation of Nature. Re-
trieved 16 July 2012.
[4] The Desert Sparrow. The Emberiza Fund. Retrieved 8
August 2013.
[5] BirdLife International (2009). "Passer simplex". IUCN
Red List of Threatened Species. Version 2009.2.
International Union for Conservation of Nature.
2 External links
Desert sparrow at the Internet Bird Collection

A pair of the subspecies P.

s. saharae near Benichab, Mauritania

Eggs of Passer simplex sa-

harae from the collections of the MHNT

1
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