Sept 2019 Sparrows request help with id (1 Viewer)

[Earnest lad]

Please may I request help with id of the two sparrows here. Seen in Black Sea area, Bulgaria, 2019.
I suspect they are probably Spanish Sparrows, but would be grateful for confirmation or advice :
The two birds were together and part of the same flock of sparrows.
Many thanks

 

[lou salomon]

slight flank striation, overall paleness and very pale bill suggest Spanish Sparrow indeed, but always better to have some males around with these.

 

[Earnest lad]

slight flank striation, overall paleness and very pale bill suggest Spanish Sparrow indeed, but always better to have some males around with these.

Thank you again. I will indeed go with that as a tentative id as there seemed to be a lot of Spanish Sparrows in that area at that time.

 

[lou salomon]

Thank you. I will indeed go with that as a tentative id as there seemed to be a lot of Spanish Sparrows in that area at that time.

In September Spanish Sparrows usually already leave their breeding teritory and migrate south (only the ones breeding in the Balkans of course, western ones usually don't migrate). So, in certain places (northern Bulgaria, Romania) by mid September usually they are left or really hard to find.

 

[Earnest lad]

In September Spanish Sparrows usually already leave their breeding teritory and migrate south (only the ones breeding in the Balkans of course, western ones usually don't migrate). So, in certain places (northern Bulgaria, Romania) by mid September usually they are left or really hard to find.

Thank you for this. I wasn't aware that was the case.
I can see from the range map too that it is so

Spanish Sparrow - Passer hispaniolensis - Birds of the World

Species accounts for all the birds of the world.

birdsoftheworld.org

Its all part of the learning curve I guess
I will not count the bird mentioned as a safely clinched sighting then :-(