Italian Sparrow

Italian Sparrow, Passer italiae is a species of sparrow found in Croatia, France, Italy, San Marino, Switzerland. Forms a superspecies with House Sparrow, P. domesticus and Spanish Sparrow, P. hispaniolensis, and the three sometimes considered conspecific.



Description
It is about 14 cm long and weighs 23 - 30 g. The tail is 5.3 –, the tarsus 18.6 –, and wing lengths for males are 7.3 –.

Male is intermediate between P. domesticus and P. hispaniolensis. has a chestnut crown, nape and hindneck, black lores, white cheeks and ear-coverts. With warm-brown upperparts and streaked back.

It looks like an intermediate between the House Sparrow and the Spanish Sparrow. The male has chestnut crow, nape, sides of the head and upperparts, white cheecks and light gray underparts. The female is brown, like the juvenile.

Similar species
-House Sparrow -Spanish Sparrow -Eurasian Tree-Sparrow

Behaviour
It is a social bir, often seen in small flocks.

Diet
It eats mainly seed, but feeds its chicks with insects. It also eats small invertebrates and berries.

Calls
Identical to House sparrow's: a repeated cheep cheep cheep or shilp shilp shilp.

Distribution/habitat
It is considered an endemical Italian species but is also found in Crete and Corsica. It is often found in city parks, where it finds bushes for nesting and seeds to eat. The Italian sparrow also lives in farmlands, where it shares its habitat with the Eurasian Tree-Sparrow.