To see the Spanish Sparrow in the UK is very exciting and it is generating a lot of interest.

It has been 12 years since the last sighting and only the 8th sighting ever recorded.

This new sighting was first seen in December 2011 in Calshot, Hampshire. The discovery has caused a huge stir among birdwatchers and as many as 2,000 are expected to descend on Calshot by the weekend.

The Spanish Sparrow or Willow Sparrow -Passer hispaniolensis - is found in the Mediterranean region, southwest and central Asia. It is very similar to the closely related House Sparrow and the two species show their close relation in a "biological mix-up" of hybridization in the Mediterranean region, which complicates the taxonomy of this species. In Italy the hybrids have been named the Italian Sparrow.

Description

It is slightly larger and heavier than House Sparrows, and also has a slightly longer and stouter bill. The male is similar to the House Sparrow in plumage, but differs in its underparts heavily streaked with black, a chestnut rather than grey crown, and white rather than grey cheeks. The female is effectively inseparable from House Sparrow in its plumage, which is grey-brown overall but more boldly marked. The female has light streaking on its sides, a pale cream supercilium and broad cream streaks on its back.

Call

The call is high-pitched and transcribed as chweeng-chweeng, cheela-cheeli. A soft quer quer quer is given at the nest by mated pairs, a quer-it flight call is given by flocking birds, and a chur-chur-it call is given as a threat.

Food

It feeds principally on the seeds of grains and other grasses, also eating leaves, fruits, and other plant materials. Young birds are fed mostly on insects, and adults also feed on insects and other animals during and before the breeding season.

Breeding

Spanish sparrows often breed in large colonies with the nests packed close together. The nest is built by both sexes and consists of a loosely woven, spherical structure of grass and plant stems. The inside is lined with fine grass and feathers. They produce clutches of about 2 to 6 eggs, which are incubated by both sexes for 10 to 11 days. The chicks and fledglings are tended by both adults.

Conservation Status – Least Concern

The Spanish sparrow is a common species which is very widespread, and is not currently considered globally threatened.

Birdwatching

The Spanish sparrow is widespread across Mediterranean Europe, ranging from Portugal and southern Spain east to Turkey. It is also found in various countries in the Middle East, as well as from Russia to central Asia, and in North Africa, where its range stretches from the Western Sahara, and east to Libya and south to the Sudan.