Dead Sea Sparrow (Passer moabiticus) [XC169813]
by Tero Linjama from Jahara pool reserve, Kuwait (song)
Dead Sea Sparrow (Passer moabiticus) [XC410144]
by Paul Coiffard from Emek HaMayanot, Yizrael, North District, Israel (call)
Subspecies
Subspecies yatii sometimes considered to be a separate species. Birds in southern Turkey, northern Syria, Iraq and south-western Iran sometimes treated as additional subspecies, mesopotamicus (described from south-western Iran), but character details appear indistinguishable from those of nominate.
The following 2 subspecies are recognised:
moabiticus Tristram, 1864 - Southern Turkey, Cyprus, Israel, western Jordan, northern Syria and central Iraq east to south-western Iran.
yatii Sharpe, 1888 - Seistan region, on borders of eastern Iran and south-western Afghanistan. Considered by some authors to be a distinct species, Afghan Scrub Sparrow (Passer yatii).