Passer shelleyi Sharpe, 1891
Accepted species in Catalogue of Life’s 11 September 2026 base release. This preserves the source classification and available supporting data; it is not a completed species monograph.
Shelley's Rufous Sparrow - 27-08-06_Murchison Falls - Uganda NP Uganda 06_5442
Francesco Veronesi from Italy · CC BY-SA 2.0 · Image sourceProvider-generated thumbnail requested at 800 pixels; no local editing Local WebP display rendition; resized without cropping.
Open encyclopedia reference
Shelley's sparrow (Passer shelleyi), also known as Shelley's rufous sparrow or the White Nile rufous sparrow, is a sparrow found in eastern Africa from South Sudan, southern Ethiopia, and north-western Somalia to northern Uganda and north-western Kenya. Formerly, it was considered as a subspecies of the Kenya sparrow. This species is named after English geologist and ornithologist George Ernest Shelley.
Wikipedia contributors, Shelley's sparrow; see linked history · CC BY-SA 4.0 . Plain-text lead excerpt, at most 180 words; no infobox or later sections Retrieved 2026-10-05T14:06:25.083925+00:00. This reference remains separate from the taxonomic record.
Identity & source status
- Scientific name
- Passer shelleyi Sharpe, 1891
- Name authority
- Sharpe, 1891
- Rank
- species
- Accepted status
- accepted
- Kingdom
- Animalia
- Phylum
- Chordata
- Class
- Aves
- Order
- Passeriformes
- Family
- Passeridae
- Genus
- Passer
- Extinction status
- Recorded extant
Classification family tree
Nested taxonomic groups from the source. This is not a direct-ancestor chain, a dated evolutionary tree or a phylogenetic reconstruction.
- domainEukaryota (Chatton, 1925) Whittaker & Margulis, 1978
- kingdomAnimalia
- phylumChordata
- subphylumVertebrata
- infraphylumGnathostomata
- parvphylumOsteichthyes
- megaclassTetrapoda
- classAves
- orderPasseriformes
- familyPasseridae Rafinesque, 1815
- genusPasser Brisson, 1760
- speciesPasser shelleyi Sharpe, 1891
Close classified relatives
These entries share the source’s genus, Passer. They are not necessarily the closest relatives established by molecular evidence.
| Species | Classification | Source status |
|---|---|---|
| Saxaul SparrowPasser ammodendri Gould, 1872 | PasseridaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Passer cordofanicus Heuglin, 1871 | PasseridaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| House SparrowPasser domesticus (Linnaeus, 1758) | PasseridaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Arabian Golden SparrowPasser euchlorus (Bonaparte, 1850) | PasseridaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Plain-backed SparrowPasser flaveolus Blyth, 1845 | PasseridaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Parrot-billed SparrowPasser gongonensis (Oustalet, 1890) | PasseridaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Northern Grey-headed SparrowPasser griseus (Vieillot, 1817) | PasseridaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Socotra SparrowPasser insularis P. L. Sclater & Hartlaub, 1881 | PasseridaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Passer italiae (Vieillot, 1817) | PasseridaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Cape SparrowPasser melanurus (Statius Muller, 1776) | PasseridaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Dead Sea SparrowPasser moabiticus Tristram, 1864 | PasseridaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Eurasian SparrowPasser montanus (Linnaeus, 1758) | PasseridaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
Source literature & publication evidence
References attached to this source record, including nomenclatural citations where supplied. This is a selected bibliography; abbreviated citations remain in the source’s form.
- https://www.itis.gov/servlet/SingleRpt/SingleRpt?search_topic=TSN&search_value=916518 Source fields: Taxon.tsv dwc:namePublishedIn, Taxon.tsv dcterms:references
Origins, evidence & remaining research
Name authority and publication references document nomenclature where the source supplies it. They do not establish evolutionary origins or the earliest fossil occurrence.
Specimen-level evidence, morphology, ecological research, phylogenetic studies, a comprehensive bibliography and a located literary passage have not yet been compiled for this record.
Dataset citation & attribution
This exact taxon in ChecklistBank · Catalogue of Life 2026-09-11
Catalogue of Life 2026-09-11; dataset 316321; doi:10.48580/dgz5n. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ . Retrieved 5 October 2026.
Stable key: col:4DXY9. Classification follows source parent identifiers. English common names may vary by region.