page_title: House sparrow
section_title: Subspecies
hierarchical_section_title: House sparrow / Taxonomy and systematics / Subspecies
caption_attribution_description: Passer domesticus balearoibericus English: A male House Sparrow perching on a Balcony in Arnavutkoy, Istanbul, Turkey.
context_page_description: The house sparrow is a bird of the sparrow family Passeridae, found in most parts of the world. It is a small bird that has a typical length of 16 cm and a mass of 24–39.5 g. Females and young birds are coloured pale brown and grey, and males have brighter black, white, and brown markings. One of about 25 species in the genus Passer, the house sparrow is native to most of Europe, the Mediterranean Basin, and a large part of Asia. Its intentional or accidental introductions to many regions, including parts of Australasia, Africa, and the Americas, make it the most widely distributed wild bird.
  The house sparrow is strongly associated with human habitation, and can live in urban or rural settings. Though found in widely varied habitats and climates, it typically avoids extensive woodlands, grasslands, and deserts away from human development. It feeds mostly on the seeds of grains and weeds, but it is an opportunistic eater and commonly eats insects and many other foods. Its predators include domestic cats, hawks, owls, and many other predatory birds and mammals.
  Because of its numbers, ubiquity, and association with human settlements, the house sparrow is culturally prominent.
context_section_description: A large number of subspecies have been named, of which 12 were recognised in the Handbook of the Birds of the World. These subspecies are divided into two groups, the Palaearctic P. d. domesticus group, and the Oriental P. d. indicus group. Several Middle Eastern subspecies, including P. d. biblicus, are sometimes considered a third, intermediate group. The subspecies P. d. indicus was described as a species, and was considered to be distinct by many ornithologists during the 19th century.
  Migratory birds of the subspecies P. d. bactrianus in the P. d. indicus group were recorded overlapping with P. d. domesticus birds without hybridising in the 1970s, so the Soviet scientists Edward I. Gavrilov and M. N. Korelov proposed the separation of the P. d. indicus group as a separate species. However, P. d. indicus group and P. d. domesticus group birds intergrade in a large part of Iran, so this split is rarely recognised.
  In North America, house sparrow populations are more differentiated than those in Europe. This variation follows predictable patterns, with birds at higher latitudes being larger and darker and those in arid areas being smaller and paler. However,  how much this is caused by evolution or by environment is not clear. Similar observations have been made in New Zealandand in South Africa. The introduced house sparrow populations may be distinct enough to merit subspecies status, especially in North America and southern Africa, and American ornithologist Harry Church Oberholser even gave the subspecies name P. d. plecticus to the paler birds of western North America.
  P. d. domesticus group
  The European house sparrow (P. d. domesticus) Linnaeus, 1758, the nominate subspecies, is found in most of Europe, across northern Asia to Sakhalin and Kamchatka. It is the most widely introduced subspecies.
  The Western Mediterranean house sparrow (P. d. balearoibericus) von Jordans, 1923, described from Majorca, is found in the Balearic Islands, southern France, the Balkans, and Anatolia.
  The Northwest African house sparrow (P. d. tingitanus) (Loche, 1867), described from Algeria, is found in the Maghreb from Ajdabiya in Libya to Béni Abbès in Algeria, and to Morocco's Atlantic coast. It hybridises extensively with the Spanish sparrow, especially in the eastern part of its range.
  The Egyptian house sparrow (P. d. niloticus) Nicoll and Bonhote, 1909, described from Faiyum, Egypt, is found along the Nile north of Wadi Halfa, Sudan. It intergrades with bibilicus in the Sinai, and with rufidorsalis in a narrow zone around Wadi Halfa. It has been recorded in Somaliland.
  The Persian house sparrow (P. d. persicus) Zarudny and Kudashev, 1916, described from the Karun River in Khuzestan, Iran, is found in the western and central Iran south of the Alborz mountains, intergrading with indicus in eastern Iran, and Afghanistan.
  The Eastern Mediterranean house sparrow (P. d. biblicus) Hartert, 1910, described from Palestine, is found in the Middle East from Cyprus and southeastern Turkey to the Sinai in the west and from Azerbaijan to Kuwait in the east.
  P. d. indicus group
  P. d. hyrcanus Zarudny and Kudashev, 1916, described from Gorgan, Iran, is found along the southern coast of the Caspian Sea from Gorgan to southeastern Azerbaijan. It intergrades with P. d. persicus in the Alborz Mountains, and with P. d. bibilicus to the west. It is the subspecies with the smallest range.
  The Turkestan house sparrow (P. d. bactrianus) Zarudny and Kudashev, 1916, described from Tashkent, is found in southern Kazakhstan to the Tian Shan and northern Iran and Afghanistan. It intergrades with persicus in Balochistan and with indicus across central Afghanistan. Unlike most other house sparrow subspecies, it is almost entirely migratory, wintering in the plains of the northern Indian subcontinent. It is found in open country rather than in settlements, which are occupied by the Eurasian tree sparrow in its range. There is an exceptional record from Sudan.
  The Kashmir house sparrow (P. d. parkini) Whistler, 1920, described from Srinagar, Kashmir, is found in 
caption: A male of subspecies P. d. balearoibericus in Istanbul
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