Desert Sparrow

Open encyclopedia reference

The desert sparrow (Passer simplex) is a species of bird in the sparrow family Passeridae, found in the Sahara Desert of northern Africa. A similar bird, Zarudny's sparrow, is found in Central Asia and was historically recognised as a subspecies of the desert sparrow, but varies in a number of ways and is now recognised as a separate species by BirdLife International, the IOC World Bird List, and the Handbook of the Birds of the World Alive. The desert sparrow has two subspecies which occur in some of driest parts of the Sahara Desert in Northern Africa. This species is becoming scarcer as a result of habitat destruction, but it is assessed on the IUCN Red List as being of least concern for conservation. Zarudny's sparrow is also considered to be a least concern species, as was the combined species recognised before 2012. The desert sparrow is not afraid to come near humans and sometimes builds nests in muddy walls.

Wikipedia contributors, Desert sparrow; see linked history · CC BY-SA 4.0 . Plain-text lead excerpt, at most 180 words; no infobox or later sections Retrieved 2026-10-05T03:59:22.474172+00:00. This reference remains separate from the taxonomic record.

Identity & source status

Scientific name

Passer simplex (Lichtenstein, 1823)

Name authority

(Lichtenstein, 1823)

Common name

Desert Sparrow

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.

1. domainEukaryota (Chatton, 1925) Whittaker & Margulis, 1978
2. kingdomAnimalia
3. phylumChordata
4. subphylumVertebrata
5. infraphylumGnathostomata
6. parvphylumOsteichthyes
7. megaclassTetrapoda
8. classAves
9. orderPasseriformes
10. familyPasseridae Rafinesque, 1815
11. genusPasser Brisson, 1760
12. speciesPasser simplex (Lichtenstein, 1823)

Close classified relatives

These entries share the source’s genus, Passer. They are not necessarily the closest relatives established by molecular evidence.

Browse 46 records assigned to Passeridae.

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.

1. https://www.itis.gov/servlet/SingleRpt/SingleRpt?search_topic=TSN&search_value=561890 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:75SD8. Classification follows source parent identifiers. English common names may vary by region.