The desert sparrow (''Passer simplex'') 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, found in the

Sahara Desert The Sahara (, ) is a desert spanning across North Africa. With an area of , it is the largest hot desert in the world and the list of deserts by area, third-largest desert overall, smaller only than the deserts of Antarctica and the northern Ar ...

of northern Africa. A similar bird, Zarudny's sparrow, is found in

Central Asia Central Asia is a region of Asia consisting of Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan. The countries as a group are also colloquially referred to as the "-stans" as all have names ending with the Persian language, Pers ...

and was historically recognised as a subspecies of the desert sparrow, but varies in a number of ways and is now recognised as a separate species by

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 i ...

, the

IOC World Bird List ''Birds of the World: Recommended English Names'' is a paperback book written by Frank Gill and Minturn Wright on behalf of the International Ornithologists' Union. The book is an attempt to produce a standardized set of English names for all bi ...

, and 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. ...

Alive''. The desert sparrow has two subspecies which occur in some of driest parts of the Sahara Desert in Northern Africa. This species is becoming scarcer as a result of

habitat destruction Habitat destruction (also termed habitat loss or habitat reduction) occurs when a natural habitat is no longer able to support its native species. The organisms once living there have either moved elsewhere, or are dead, leading to a decrease ...

, but it is assessed on the

IUCN Red List The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List of Threatened Species, also known as the IUCN Red List or Red Data Book, founded in 1964, is an inventory of the global conservation status and extinction risk of biological ...

as being of

least concern A least-concern species is a species that has been evaluated and categorized by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) as not being a focus of wildlife conservation because the specific species is still plentiful in the wil ...

for conservation. Zarudny's sparrow is also considered to be a least concern species, as was the combined species recognised before 2012. 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 welcome 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 The Tuareg people (; also spelled Twareg or Touareg; endonym, depending on variety: ''Imuhaɣ'', ''Imušaɣ'', ''Imašeɣăn'' or ''Imajeɣăn'') are a large Berber ethnic group, traditionally nomadic pastoralists, who principally inhabit th ...

, who call the bird "moula-moula", also say that this bird brings good news when it comes to stay near the camp.

Gallery

Desert sparrow pair.jpg, A pair of the subspecies ''P. s. saharae'' near Benichab,

Mauritania Mauritania, officially the Islamic Republic of Mauritania, is a sovereign country in Maghreb, Northwest Africa. It is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the west, Western Sahara to Mauritania–Western Sahara border, the north and northwest, ...

Passer simplex sahara MHNT 225 Oued-Mya Algérie.jpg, Eggs of ''Passer simplex saharae'' from the collections of the MHNT

References

External links

Desert sparrow
at the Internet Bird Collection {{Taxonbar, from=Q971520 desert sparrow Birds of North Africa Fauna of the Sahara desert sparrow