Cape Sparrow (Passer diffusus)

Other Names (World)
Southern Grey-headed Sparrow, Southern Gray-headed Sparrow, Cape Sparrow(!)

Family
Passeridae (Old World Sparrows)

Size
15 cm

First Described (Guide)
(Smith, 1836)

Habitat
Subtropical and tropical lowland dry grassland. Also, subtropical and tropical lowland dry shrubland, dry savanna, urban areas, rural gardens.

Range (Guide)

Angola, Botswana, Lesotho, Malawi, Mozambique, Namibia, South Africa, Swaziland, Tanzania [United Republic of], Zambia, Zimbabwe.

Population
Estimated population is unknown (2010).

Status LC
For more information see BirdLife International Species Factsheet.

Voice
Xeno-Canto Sound Files (more (25)...)

Southern Grey-headed Sparrow (Passer) [XC346947]
by Lynette Rudman from Omaruru area west, Namibia (song)

Southern Grey-headed Sparrow (Passer diffusus) [XC346946]
by Peter Boesman from Omaruru area west, Namibia (call, song, call and song)

Subspecies
Forms a superspecies with Swainson's Sparrow (Passer swainsonii), Parrot-billed Sparrow (Passer gongonensis), Swahili Sparrow (Passer suahelicus) and Northern Grey-headed Sparrow (Passer griseus). All are often treated as conspecific.

The following 4 subspecies are recognised:

diffusus (Smith, 1836) - Western and southern Angola east to south-western and southern Zambia, south to Namibia (except south-west), Botswana, western Zimbabwe and western South Africa (except much of south-west).
luangwae Benson, 1956 - Upper Luangwa Valley, in eastern Zambia.
mosambicus van Someren, 1921 - South-eastern Tanzania and northern Mozambique. Sometimes considered a subspecies of Northern Grey-headed Sparrow (Passer griseus).
stygiceps Clancey, 1954 - South-eastern Zambia, southern Malawi, northern and eastern Zimbabwe, central and southern Mozambique, north-eastern and eastern South Africa, Swaziland and Lesotho. Sometimes believed to represent darker end of cline in plumage coloration of nominate or possibly a hybrid between nominate subspecies of present species and subspecies ugandae of Northern Grey-headed Sparrow (Passer griseus).

References
See References.

Files:

JPG files for Cape Sparrow (Passer diffusus) - 10 files

More Information

BirdLife International

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BirdLife International Species Factsheet.

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