From Opus

Alternative name: Golden Sparrow

Passer luteus

[edit] Identification

12 - 13 cm.

[edit] Male

• Golden-yellow head and underparts
• Chestnut mantle, scapulars and back
• Yellowish-grey rump
• Black median and outer greater upperwing-coverts with white tips
• Blackish flight-feathers, edged warm brown to rufous
• Brown tail
• Brown eye
• Horn-coloured bill, black in breeding season

[edit] Female

• Sandy brown top of head and upperparts
• Pale creamy yellow face and underparts
• Pale yellowish-buff supercilium
• Wings like male but slightly browner

Juveniles are similar to females but have grey flecks on back of head and nape.

[edit] Distribution

Occurs in the Sahel zone in Africa south of the Sahara in a narrow band from Mauritania and Senegal east to the coast of the Red Sea in Sudan.
Locally common to abundant. Range may shift with droughts.

[edit] Taxonomy

A monotypic species.
Has been considered conspecific with Arabian Golden Sparrow and forms a superspecies with it. Both taxons have been placed in genus Auripasser in the past.

[edit] Habitat

Sandy arid savannas with a low density of shrub and trees.

[edit] Behaviour

Feeds oon seeds of grasses and cultivated cereals. Nestlings are fed with insects.
A highly gregarious species, often seen in large flocks also mixed with other species like weavers.
Opportunistic breeder, breeding coincides with rain. A colonial breeder with colonies up to 65'000 nests! The nest is a closed dome with a side entrance and made of dead twigs. It's placed in a tree (one tree can hold up to 30 nests). Lays 3 - 4 eggs.
A highly nomadic species.

[edit] References

1. Clements, JF. 2009. The Clements Checklist of Birds of the World. 6th ed., with updates to December 2009. Ithaca: Cornell Univ. Press. ISBN 978-0801445019.
2. Del Hoyo, J, A Elliott, and D Christie, eds. 2009. Handbook of the Birds of the World. Volume 14: Bush-shrikes to Old World Sparrows. Barcelona: Lynx Edicions. ISBN 978-8496553507

• List of references

[edit] External Links