Sind Sparrow Passer pyrrhonotus Scientific name definitions

The Sind Sparrow (Passer pyrrhonotus) is a small sparrow, superficially similar to the House Sparrow (Passer domesticus). It predominantly occurs in riverine or swampy areas, in wet tall grass and tamarisk (Tamarix) and acacia (Acacia) jungles. Unlike many species of Passer sparrow, Sind Sparrow is not particularly associated with human settlements. Its affinity to water has enabled the species to expand its limited range to new areas in conjunction with the expansion of irrigation canal networks. Sind Sparrow is distributed in the Indus Valley and the lower reaches of its main tributaries, in Pakistan, west to the southeasternmost corner of Iran (Sistān), and east through Punjab to the Delhi area; in northern India, it is also found in Gujarat, Rajasthan, Himachal Pradesh, and Jammu.

The species was first described in 1844 by Edward Blyth (1810–1873), an English zoologist who spent most of his life in India, from a specimen sent by Sir Alexander Burnes (1805–1841), a Scottish explorer, military officer, and diplomat. Following its initial discovery and despite considerable searching, Sind Sparrow was not reported again until 1880, probably due to the species’ similarity to House Sparrow, which suggested to some authors that it was merely a small subspecies of the latter. For example, hundreds of House Sparrows were killed by that celebrated doyen of the Subcontinent’s ornithology, Allan Octavian Hume (1829‒1912) in search of the Sind Sparrow, but without success.