Dead Sea Sparrow
Passer moabiticus
Small and compact with a small bill and a shorter tail compared to larger sparrows. Males have a gray head, a vivid rusty shoulder patch, a black throat, and a yellow patch at the base of the white mustache. Females are relatively clean-looking compared to males. Song is a series of high-pitched, sharp “tzip-tzip-tzip…” notes. The flight call is higher-pitched than larger sparrows. Breeds in thick scrub and trees where it builds a large and prominent nest that has unique thermoregulating properties for hot climates. A partial and short-distance migrant; moves in tight, fast-moving flocks.
Taxonomy
- Scientific name
- Passer moabiticus
- Authority
- Tristram, 1864
- Order
- Passeriformes
- Family
- Passeridae
- Genus
- Passer
Range and habitat
- Breeding range
- PAL : sc subtropical Palearctic in riparian vegetation and irrigation: s Turkey and Cyprus to sw Afghanistan, in s to e Israel, w Jordan, c Iraq and sw Iran
- Non-breeding range
- short-range southward movement
- Migration
- Complete migrants
Conservation
- Population trend
- declining
Photos
Distribution
Bird Calls
Other Birds
Copper-tailed Hummingbird
Saucerottia cupreicauda
This hummingbird is found in humid forest in mountainous regions of eastern Venezuela, the Guianas, and northern Brazil. Plumage is bright green with a coppery rump and tail, and belly ranges in color from pale gray to buff. Occasionally seen in lowlands, where it is perhaps just a seasonal visitor or wanderer. Formerly considered to be a subspecies group of Green-bellied Hummingbird.
Gray-headed Chickadee
Poecile cinctus
Large fluffy head, dark cocoa crown, big black chin patch, and rusty flanks separate this species from other tits in its home of the vast boreal forests. Usually occurs in well-preserved lichen-clad pine forests but also in upland birch forests. Varied vocal repertoire; some calls can be similar to Willow Tits. Feeds on insects and seeds. Visit feeders.
Black-bellied Tern
Sterna acuticauda
Elegant tern with a long tail and a slender orange bill. Breeding adult has a full black cap and dark belly. Non-breeding adult is paler-bellied and has only a solid black nape patch, with the black of the crown reduced to mottling. Larger, bulkier River Tern can be similar, but averages shorter- and thicker-billed, lacks black belly in breeding plumage, and has patchier black on the head in non-breeding plumage. Black-bellied breeds on sandy or gravel islands in rivers and lakes, but forages over a wider range of wetland habitats. Gives squeaky “wee’tew!” notes. Uncommon and declining.
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