Rock Sparrow (Petronia) [XC480911]
by Peter Boesman from B\u00fczeyir, Lerik, Ardabil Province, Azerbaijan (call)
Rock Sparrow (Petronia petronia) [XC765193]
by Stanislas Wroza from Chandmani, Khovd, Mongolia (flight call, flock in flight)
Subspecies
Somewhat smaller birds from Caspian region east to Kyrgyzstan sometimes treated as additional subspecies kirhizica, but differences from intermedia appear insufficient to justify separation.
The following 7 subspecies are recognised:
petronia (Linnaeus, 1766) - Madeira, Canary Is, and southern Europe (including Mediterranean islands) east to Bulgaria and western Asia Minor.
barbara Erlanger, 1899 - Morocco east to north-western Libya (south to 21° north).
exigua (Hellmayr, 1902) - Central Turkey east to Caucasus, northern Iraq and northern Iran (east to Gorgan).
puteicola Festa, 1894 - Southern Turkey south to central Israel, Syria and western Jordan.
intermedia Hartert, 1901 - Lower Volga valley east to Aral Sea and eastern Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, south to south-western and north-eastern Iran, northern Afghanistan and extreme north-western China (western Xinjiang).
brevirostris Taczanowski, 1874 - Southern foothills of Altai, northern and eastern Mongolia and south-eastern Transbaikalia south to northern and central China (Inner Mongolia south to northern Sichuan).
kirhizica Sushkin, 1925 - Lower Volga River Valley to Turgay depression and Aral Sea.
BirdLife International Species Factsheet