Desert Sparrow (Passer simplex) [XC309908]
by Guy Kirwan from Bir Soltane, Matmata, Gab\u00e8s, Tunisia (alarm call, call, song)
Desert Sparrow (Passer simplex) [XC760812]
by Pere Josa from Hassilabied, Errachidia Province, Dr\u00e2a-Tafilalet, Morocco (call)
Subspecies
Passer simplex (Sibley and Monroe 1990, 1993) has been split into Desert Sparrow (Passer simplex) and Zarudny's Sparrow (Passer zarudnyi) following Kirwan et al. (2009): this treatment is under review by the BirdLife International.
The following 3 subspecies are recognised:
saharae Erlanger, 1899 - North-western Sahara Desert east to western Libya, southern at least to southern Algeria (Ahaggar) and Chad.
simplex (Lichtenstein, 1823) - Southern Sahara from Mauritania and Mali east to southern Egypt and Sudan.
zarudnyi Pleske, 1896 - Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan. Considered by some authors to be a distinct species, Zarudny's Sparrow (Passer zarudnyi).