Russet sparrow

The English ornithologist John Gould described a specimen of the russet sparrow collected in the Himalayas at a meeting of the Zoological Society of London in December 1835 under the binomial name Pyrgita cinnamomea. His description was included in the volume of the society's proceedings for 1835 that was published on 8 April 1836. Its specific name comes from the Neo-Latin , "cinnamon-coloured". The russet sparrow was described as Fringilla rutilans, by the Dutch zoologist Coenraad Jacob Temminck, from a specimen collected in Japan. Temminck's description is contained in his ''Nouveau recueil de planches coloriées d'oiseaux which was issued in 102 livraisons or parts between 1820 and 1839. It was at one time believed that the livraison'' containing the description of the russet sparrow was issued in 1835 but it has now been established that it appeared sometime in 1836 but as the precise date is not known under the rules of the International Commission on Zoological Nomenclature it is deemed to have been published on 31 December 1836. Most taxonomists give priority to Gould's publication and use the binomial name Passer cinnamomeus for the russet sparrow. The russet sparrow has usually been placed in the genus Passer, and within this genus it is seen as a part of the "Palearctic black-bibbed sparrow" group, which includes the tree sparrow as well as the house sparrow. It has generally been seen as a close relation of the house sparrow, and Richard Meinertzhagen even considered it to be the same species as the Somali sparrow, one of the house sparrow's closest relatives. However, studies of mitochondrial DNA indicate that the russet sparrow is an early offshoot or basal species among the Palearctic black-bibbed sparrows. While mitochrondrial DNA suggests speciation in Passer occurred during the Miocene and Pliocene, Thirteen subspecies have been described, but only three are widely recognised, these differing largely in the colour of their underparts. The subspecies Passer cinnamomeus rutilans breeds in Japan, Korea, Taiwan, and southeastern and central China. The subspecies intensior, described in 1922 by Walter Rothschild from Yunnan, breeds in southwest China and parts of India, Burma, Laos, and Vietnam. In a large part of Sichuan intensior intergrades with P. c. rutilans, and a number of subspecies names have been proposed for the intergrades. The nominate subspecies cinnamomeus, described by Gould from the northwestern Himalayas, breeds from northern Arunachal Pradesh to Nuristan in Afghanistan. == Description ==

The russet sparrow is a small chunky bird, with plumage warm rufous in overall colour. It is a medium-sized sparrow at and . It has a thick bill suited to eating seeds, which is black on the breeding male, horn-coloured on the non-breeding male, and yellowish with a dark tip on the female. The legs of both sexes are pale brown to pinkish-brown. The flight of all sparrows is swift, and that of the russet sparrow is described as swifter and more direct than that of the tree sparrow. Moult is poorly recorded, the only records coming from Sakhalin and Himachal Pradesh. In Sakhalin, moult occurs in August and September, between the breeding season and migration. The breeding male is bright russet or cinnamon red on its upperparts from its crown to its rump, with a black streaking on its mantle. It has a small black bib and black around its eye, separated from the russet of its crown by a very thin white supercilium, a stripe running from the bill to the rear of the head. Its tail is blackish brown, edged with ashy brown. being paler with more orange upperparts. The female has mostly pale brown upperparts, and pale grey underparts, so it resembles the female house sparrow. It differs from the house sparrow in its slightly darker, russet-tinged plumage. It has a conspicuous cream supercilium from above its eye nearly around its head, and a bold dark brown stripe through its eye. It has mostly greyish brown wings and a back streaked with black and buff. A thin ' vocalisation not unlike that of an Indian robin has been reported, but the context of this call is unrecorded. During territorial disputes, males give a rapid ' call. == Distribution and habitat ==

, India , Pakistan The russet sparrow is found in parts of eastern Asia and in the Himalayas. It is not known whether its distribution is continuous between these two areas, since the political sensitivity of the Brahmaputra River's valley near the China-India border makes the area less accessible to ornithologists. In eastern Asia, the autumn migration occurs between August and November. In Southeast Asia, its range has contracted at lower elevations due to global warming, but it has also moved higher at high elevations and it remains common. Although its global population has not been quantified, it is assessed for the IUCN Red List as least concern for global extinction. In Sakhalin, it breeds mostly in riparian forest. In the Himalayas, it is strongly associated with terrace cultivation, and it probably only spread to the Himalayas when these agricultural practices arrived 3000 to 4000 years ago. In towns where it occurs alongside the house or tree sparrow, it is found in gardens and less built up areas. In towns where it is the only sparrow, it is not dependent on trees, breeding around houses and eating scraps in streets. In the winter, migratory birds occur in open cultivated land and riverine grasslands, but are never far from shrubs or trees. == Behaviour ==

blossoms, in Aichi Prefecture, Japan In many aspects of its behaviour, the russet sparrow is similar to the house and tree sparrows. Like them, it feeds on the ground, but spends most of its time perching on branches. The adult russet sparrow is mostly a seed-eater, eating the seeds of herbs and weeds as well as rice, barley, and other grains. Berries, such as those of the kingore (certain Berberis spp.), are also eaten when available. Mortality rates in the russet sparrow have not been studied, but it is known that many young birds die from Isospora infections, to which the bird has little resistance. Other recorded parasites of the russet sparrow include Protocalliphora blowflies, and Menacanthus chewing lice. Breeding The russet sparrow's breeding season is short, lasting about three months. The Himalayan subspecies cinnamomeus has been recorded breeding from April to August, the nominate subspecies breeds from May to July, and the subspecies intensior is believed to breed in March. The russet sparrow has been recorded breeding alongside the tree sparrow and white wagtail in black kite nests, taking advantage of the territorial defence of the kites to avoid nest predation. Other nest locations include the eaves of thatched roofs, stone walls and embankments, and electric junction boxes. Eggs are elongated ovals, with a fine texture and a slight gloss. They are whitish in overall colour with a grey tinge and brown spots, streaks, or blotches. The average size of the egg is 19.2×14.2 millimetres (0.75×0.55 in). Eggs are similar to those of the tree sparrow, differing in a duller colour and more narrow shape, Two clutches of four or sometimes five or six eggs are laid in a year. == Relationships with humans ==

, which portrays the russet sparrow|alt=An artwork with a red-capped and reddish-backed little bird flying beside the pink five-petalled blooms and dark green leaves of a hibiscus flower In parts of the range, the russet sparrow inhabits towns, and in most of its range, it occurs near cultivation, and is a minor pest of agriculture. Though it damages crops, it also feeds its nestlings largely on insect pests. In Japan it was eaten in the 1870s and sold in the Yokohama game market. The russet sparrow is known well enough in the Himalayas that in most languages it has a different vernacular name from the tree sparrow. Examples of these vernacular names include in Hindi and in Tibetan. The Japanese artist Hokusai portrayed the russet sparrow, and due to this, it has appeared on postage stamps featuring Japanese art in Japan, The Gambia, and Guyana. == References ==