Spanish Sparrow
  A species of Old World Sparrows   Scientific name : Passer hispaniolensis  Genus :   Old World Sparrows    
  Spanish Sparrow, A species of Old World Sparrows 
  Botanical name: Passer hispaniolensis 
  Genus:  Old World Sparrows 
  Content 
 Description People often ask General Info
  Photo By Francesco Veronesi , used under CC-BY-SA-2.0 /Cropped and compressed from original  Description
 The Spanish sparrow is a rather large sparrow, at 15–16 cm (6–6.5 in) in length, and 22–36 g (0.78–1.27 oz) in weight. It is slightly larger and heavier than house sparrows, and also has a slightly longer and stouter bill. The male is similar to the house sparrow in plumage, but differs in that its underparts are heavily streaked with black, has a chestnut rather than grey crown, and has white rather than grey cheeks. The female is effectively inseparable from the house sparrow in its basic plumage, which is grey-brown overall but more boldly marked. The female has light streaking on its sides, a pale cream supercilium, and broad cream streaks on its back. Two subspecies of the Spanish sparrow – the western Spanish sparrow (P. h. hispaniolensis) and eastern Spanish sparrow (P. h. transcaspicus) – are recognised, with little visible difference between them in worn breeding plumage. They are more easily distinguished in fresh winter plumage, with the eastern subspecies P. h. transcaspicus being paler with less chestnut. 
 
    Size 
  16 cm 
    Colors 
  Brown 
  Black 
  Bronze 
  Gray 
  White 
  Cream 
  Life Expectancy 
  11 years 
    Nest Placement 
  Building 
  Feeding Habits 
  Spanish Sparrow's diet primarily consists of grains, grass seeds, leaves, fruits, and insects. Caterpillars, ants, grasshoppers, and crickets are opportunistically preyed upon, especially during migration and breeding seasons. Nestlings start with insects, transitioning to grains later. Feeding centers on availability, favoring crops in cultivated areas or wild flora. 
    Habitat 
  The habitat of spanish Sparrow encompasses farmlands and open woodlands with abundant moisture and vegetation. These birds thrive in the Mediterranean regions and adapt to urban settings in the absence of the house sparrow. Spanish Sparrow selects areas that benefit from human agricultural activities, residing at elevations up to 2750 meters. Outside the breeding season, they exhibit nomadic behavior. 
    Dite type 
  Granivorous 
 People often ask
General Info
Feeding Habits
Bird food type
Behavior
 The Spanish sparrow is strongly gregarious, flocking and breeding in groups. In the winter, it mostly wanders nomadically or makes regular migrations. Little is known of the Spanish sparrow's survival, and the maximum age recorded is 11 years. 
 
   Distribution Area
 The Spanish sparrow has a highly complex distribution in the Mediterranean region, Macaronesia, and south-west to central Asia. It breeds mostly in a band of latitude about fifteen degrees wide, from the Danube valley and the Aral Sea in the north to Libya and central Iran in the south. Its range has expanded greatly by natural colonisation over the last two centuries, in the Balkans, where it reached Romania, Serbia, and Moldova from 1950 onwards; and in Macaronesia, where its range expansion has been attributed to introductions and travel by ship, but was more likely natural colonisation by migrating birds. Vagrants occur widely, as far north as Scotland and Norway. A study has shown that vagrant individuals tend to occur very close to railway lines, much closer than with other vagrant passerines. This results suggests that Spanish sparrows' vagrancy and expansion may be facilitated in part by cargo trains. 
 
   Species Status
 Not globally threatened. 
   Scientific Classification
 Phylum 
  Chordates   Class 
  Birds   Order 
  Perching birds   Family 
  Old world sparrows   Genus 
  Old World Sparrows   Species 
  Spanish Sparrow