Southern Grey-headed Sparrow ( Passer diffusus, family: Passeridae)
Birds & Birding in the Kruger National Park South Africa. In Roberts 6 this bird was called Grey-headed Sparrow
The Southern Grey-headed Sparrow (Latin name Passer diffusus) is
described in Roberts Birds of Southern Africa, 7th Edition. This bird
has a unique Roberts number of 804 and you will find a full description
of this bird on page 1086 also a picture of the Southern Grey-headed
Sparrow on page 1009. The Southern Grey-headed Sparrow belongs to the
family of birds classified as Passeridae.
In the previous edition of Roberts (ie 6th edition) the Southern Grey-headed Sparrow was called the Grey-headed Sparrow
The map of the Kruger you see on this page shows the areas (coloured orange) where this bird has been identified. The basic information was provided by the Avian Demographic Unit based at UCT and I created the maps from that information ... the green dots show the locations of the various Kruger National Park Rest Camps
The Southern Grey-headed Sparrow is neither Endemic or near Endemic to the Kruger National Park. It is however a common resident
In terms of distribution of the Southern Grey-headed Sparrow in the Kruger National Park you may not see it in all areas. Southern Grey-headed Sparrow : see above distribution map.
The Southern Grey-headed Sparrow.
Identification assistance for this avian species ...
One of the first indicators to take note of when trying to identify a bird is it relative size. For example how big is the bird compared to a well known familiar bird. The Southern Grey-headed Sparrow is a small bird about the size of a house sparrow. Do not take this relative indicator as anything other than a rough easy to remember indicator. It is not a accurate visualization. The height of the Southern Grey-headed Sparrow is about 16 cms and its weight is about 24 gms
The male and female Southern Grey-headed Sparrow have the same plumage and colours
- Head is grey.
- Eye is brown.
- Bill is black.
- Throat is white.
- Back is brown.
- Legs are brown.
This bird has normally proportioned leg length.
Main diet items for this bird ...
The Southern Grey-headed Sparrow feeds on the ground mainly
Invertebrates
Seeds
Breeding and nesting habits for this bird ...
The Southern Grey-headed Sparrow takes on more than a single mate (it is bigamous).
The nesting habit of Southern Grey-headed Sparrow is to create the nest in a hole in a tree trunk. The bird lays eggs which are brown in colour and number between 2 to 6
Habitat and flocking behaviour for this bird ...
The preferred habitats for Southern Grey-headed Sparrow are: woodlands
You will not see Southern Grey-headed Sparrow in flocks. The bird prefers to act singly or in pairs.
Names of this avian species in other languages ...
Xhosa ... Unknown
Zulu ... Unknown
Afrikaans ...Gryskopmossie
German ... Graukopfsperling
Portuguese ... Pardal-de-cabea-cinzenta-meridional
French ... Moineau sud-africain
Dutch ... Mozambique-Mus
First bird in list | Previous bird viewed | Next KNP bird | Last bird in list
For in-depth birding information please refer to these authoritative avian references ...
Robert's 7th edition number ... 804
The main reference source for this data was "Roberts - Birds of Southern Africa, 7th Edition" . Other references were "Newmans Birds of the Kruger Park" by Keith Newman published circa 1980 . Names in foreign languages were obtained from the Percy Fitzpatrick Institute of African Ornithology, University of Cape Town website , www.fitzpatrick.uct.ac.za
