Rock Sparrow

Petronia petronia (Linnaeus, 1766)

Rock Sparrow, Petronia petronia, is a passerine of the sparrow family that breeds across the Palearctic in barren land, open groves and cultivated country, from Madeira and the Canary Islands through the Iberian Peninsula and southern Europe to Turkey, the Caucasus, Central Asia, Mongolia and parts of China, with further populations in North Africa and the Middle East. It is the only member of its genus. The bird nests in rock or wall crevices and lays four to five eggs. It is also found around human settlements in suitable areas, and in the west of its range it stays year-round.

Order

Passeriformes

Family

Passeridae — Old World Sparrows, Snowfinches

Breeding range

Palearctic: temperate to subtropical Palearctic in barren land, open groves and cultivation: Madeira and Canary Is. (c Macaronesia), Iberian Pen., sc France through Turkey, Caucasus, nw, se Kazakhstan, sc Russia and Mongolia to Inner Mongolia (ne China); in s from Morocco to nw Libya (nw, nc Africa), also Israel, w Jordan, n Iraq, s Iran and w Afghanistan through Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan to nw Xinjiang, and Qinghai and Gansu s through Sichuan (nw China)