Alternative name: Shelley's Rufous Sparrow; White Nile Rufous Sparrow
- Passer shelleyi
Identification
13 - 15cm.
Male
- Blue grey crown to upper mantle, ear-coverts and cheek
- Black lores, chin and throat
- Broad chestnut band extending from above eye around rear of ear-coverts and on neck side forward, black line underneath
- Rufous chestnut lower mantle to upertail-coverts, streaked black on mantle and uper back
- Blackish to dark brown upperwing
- White tips on median coverts
- Dark brown tail
- Greyish underparts
- Horn-coloured bill, blackish in breeding season
Female
- Similar to male but much duller
- Dark grey bib
- Chestnut replaced by buff
Juveniles are similar to females but they look paler and washed-out.
Similar species
Smaller than Great Sparrow. Note also paler eye, greyer face and more grey on neck and mantle (especially in nominate).
Distribution
Found in southeastern South Sudan, northeast Uganda, western Kenya, southern and eastern Ethiopia and northwest Somalia.
Common in Ethiopia and Uganda, rare in Kenya.
Taxonomy
This is a monotypic species.
It has been considered conspecific with Kenya Sparrow and Kordofan Sparrow in the past.
Habitat
Open grassy savanna with trees, also in adjacent semi-deserts and light woodland. Does not penetrate into villages and associate with humans. Occurs from 1000 - 1700m.
Behaviour
Diet
Little information on diet, feeds probably on seeds and insects. Feeds mainly on ground.
Breeding
Breeds from September to November and March to June in loose colonies. The nest is a dome with a side entrance made of grasses and placed in a tree. Takes sometimes abandonend nests of weavers. Lays 3 - 6 eggs.
References
- Clements, J. F., T. S. Schulenberg, M. J. Iliff, D. Roberson, T. A. Fredericks, B. L. Sullivan, and C. L. Wood. 2017. The eBird/Clements checklist of birds of the world: v2017, with updates to August 2017. Downloaded from http://www.birds.cornell.edu/clementschecklist/download/
- 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
Recommended Citation
- BirdForum Opus contributors. (2025) Shelley's Sparrow. In: BirdForum, the forum for wild birds and birding. Retrieved 5 May 2025 from https://www.birdforum.net/opus/Shelley%27s_Sparrow
