Editing Spanish sparrow (section)

== Distribution and habitat ==
The Spanish sparrow has a highly complex distribution in the [[Mediterranean region]], [[Macaronesia]], and southwest to central [[Asia]]. It breeds mostly in a band of [[latitude]] about 15 degrees wide, from the [[Danube]] Valley and the [[Aral Sea]] in the north to [[Libya]] and central [[Iran]] in the south.<ref name="SummersHispaniolensis">{{harvnb|Summers-Smith|1988|pp=165–169}}</ref> Its range has expanded greatly by natural colonisation over the last two centuries, in the [[Balkans]], where it reached [[Romania]], [[Serbia]], and [[Moldova]] from 1950 onwards;<ref name=bwp/><ref>{{cite journal|title=The range of the Spanish sparrow, ''Passer hispaniolensis'' (Temminck) in Bosnia and Herzegovina|last=Obratil|first=S.|year=1985|journal=Larus|volume=36–37|pages=49–57}}</ref> and in Macaronesia, where its range expansion has been attributed to introductions and travel by ship, but was more likely natural colonisation by migrating birds.<ref name="colonists">{{harvnb|Summers-Smith|1992|pp=42–47}}</ref> [[Vagrancy (biology)|Vagrants]] occur widely, as far north as [[Scotland]] and [[Norway]].<ref name=bwp/><ref name="SummersHispaniolensis"/>

A study has shown that vagrant individuals tend to occur very close to railway lines, much closer than with other vagrant passerines. This results suggests that Spanish sparrows' vagrancy and expansion may be facilitated in part by cargo trains.<ref>{{cite journal|last=Rozsa|first=L.|year=2018|title=Railway-facilitated dispersal of the Spanish Sparrow (''Passer hispaniolensis'') during its current range expansion in the Pannonian Basin|journal= BioInvasions Records|volume=7|issue=4|pages=469–473|url=http://www.reabic.net/journals/bir/2018/4/BIR_2018_Rozsa.pdf|doi=10.3391/bir.2018.7.4.20|doi-access=free}}</ref>
[[File:SpanishSparrowMap.svg|thumb|center|600px|Distribution of the Spanish and Italian sparrows<!-- <div style="text-align:left;"><big>{{legend2 |#4BE44B|''P. h. hispaniolensis'' breeding range}}<br />{{legend2 |#008000|''P. h. transcaspicus'' breeding range}}<br />{{legend2 |#60DDDD|Winter range}}<br />{{legend2| #DF5BDF|[[Italian sparrow]] range}}<br/></big></div>
Other colours represent zones of hybridisation -->]]

=== Subspecies ''hispaniolensis'' ===
[[File:Passer hispaniolensis male on wire.jpg|thumb|upright|A male in Sardinia]]
The western subspecies ''hispaniolensis'' breeds in parts of [[Iberia]] and [[North Africa]], some islands, and the Balkans. In Iberia it is uncommon, occurring in the [[Tagus]] valley and sporadically in the northern [[Meseta Central|meseta]], the eastern coast, and in the [[Guadalquivir]] and [[Guadiana]] valleys.<ref name="SummersHispaniolensis"/><ref>{{cite journal |author1=Roman, J. |author2=Onrubia, A. |author3=Roviralta, F. |author4=Balmori, A. |author5=Fernandez, J. |author6=Sanz-Zuasti, J. |author7=Gutierrez, C. |author8=Jubete, F. |author9=Roman, F. |author10=Garcia, J. |author11=Olea, P. P. |title=Sobre el status del gorrion moruno, ''Passer hispaniolensis'' (Temminck, 1820), en la submeseta norte |journal=Ecología |volume=11 |year=1997 |pages=453–456 |url=http://www.mma.es/secciones/el_ministerio/organismos/oapn/pdf/ecologia_11_25.pdf |archive-date=2012-04-20 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120420103351/http://www.mma.es/secciones/el_ministerio/organismos/oapn/pdf/ecologia_11_25.pdf |location=Madrid |language=es |access-date=2010-11-12 |url-status=live }}</ref> While the house sparrow and the Spanish sparrow form a "hybrid swarm" in the eastern half of the [[Maghreb]], they coexist with little hybridisation in the western half.<ref name="SummersHispaniolensis"/><ref>{{cite journal|title=La distribution des Moineaux, ''Passer'', en Algérie : observations complémentaires|journal=Le Gerfaut|year=1986|author=Metzmacher, M.|volume=76|pages=131–138|language=fr, en, nl|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110926224947/http://users.belgacom.net/fayenbois/passer/ph_distribution.pdf|archive-date=2011-09-26|url=http://users.belgacom.net/fayenbois/passer/ph_distribution.pdf|access-date=2011-07-25|url-status=live}}</ref> In northern Italy and Corsica, the Spanish sparrow is replaced by the Italian sparrow and the two [[Intergradation|intergrade]] in southern Italy, as well as [[Malta]], [[Crete]] and nearby islands such as [[Rhodes]].<ref name="SummersHispaniolensis"/> The Spanish sparrow is not known to breed in the [[Balearic Islands]], the [[Aegean Islands]], [[Corfu]] or the [[Peloponnese]], but it occurs on Sardinia, [[Pantelleria]] and smaller islands near the coast. In the Balkans, it occurs patchily from [[Montenegro]] across into the Danube Valley of Romania and northern Serbia. It is found in mainland [[Greece]] and [[Bulgaria]], where it is also uncommon.<ref name="SummersHispaniolensis"/><ref>{{cite journal|last=Sladen|first=Alexander B.|year=1918|title=Further Notes on the Birds of Macedonia|journal=The Ibis|series=10|volume=6|url=https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/16282106}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal|last=Chasen|first=F. N.|year=1921|title=Field Notes on the Birds of Macedonia. With special reference to the Struma Plain|journal=The Ibis|series=11|volume=3|issue=2|url=https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/8759902}}</ref>

The Spanish sparrow is likely to have been established on the western Canary Islands for some time, as it was found on [[Lanzarote]] when a naturalist first visited the island in 1828. In the 1830s, it was recorded on [[Fuerteventura]], [[Gran Canaria]] and [[Tenerife]] and since the 1940s it has reached all the other islands.<ref name="SummersHispaniolensis"/><ref name="colonists"/> It reached Madeira in May 1935, when numbers of sparrows were found across the island after nine days of strong, continuous easterly winds.<ref name=bwp/><ref name="colonists"/> It seems to have reached Cape Verde around the same time it reached the Canaries and it was first recorded there on [[Santiago, Cape Verde|Santiago]] by [[Charles Darwin]] in 1832. From then onwards it reached all the other larger islands, in a poorly recorded extension of its range.<ref name="SummersHispaniolensis"/><ref name="colonists"/><ref>{{harvnb|Gould|1838|p=95}}</ref>

=== Subspecies ''transcaspicus'' ===
[[File:Passer hispaniolensis-2.jpg|thumb|A male and a female of the eastern subspecies (''P. h. transcaspicus'') in southeastern Turkey]]
[[File:Passer hispaniolensis Israel 2.jpg|thumb|upright|A male of the eastern subspecies (''P. h. transcaspicus'') in Israel]]
The eastern subspecies ''transcaspicus'' breeds from [[Anatolia]] and [[Cyprus]] through the Middle East and Central Asia to far western China. In the Middle East, it breeds through [[Syria]] and [[Lebanon]] to about as far south as [[Jerusalem]]. It breeds in eastern [[Turkey]], but is a very rare breeder in [[Iraq]] and [[Kuwait]].<ref name="SummersTranscaspicus"/> It breeds sporadically in [[Azerbaijan]] and [[Dagestan]], north to the [[Terek River]] Valley. In Iran, it breeds in most of the country except the Persian Gulf region, also breeding in central and northern Afghanistan. In Central Asia, it breeds from the regions of the [[Turkmenistan]]-Iran and [[Tajikistan]]-Afghanistan borders north to parts of the [[Syr Darya]] basin in Kazakhstan, and westwards to [[Lake Alakol]], the [[Karatal River]], and a corner of China.<ref name="SummersTranscaspicus">{{harvnb|Summers-Smith|1988| pp=170–171}}</ref> Here it has also expanded its range, in the area around Lake Alakol in [[Kazakhstan]], where agriculture was not developed until the 1950s.<ref>{{cite book|last=Summers-Smith|first=J. D.|contribution=Changes in distribution and habitat utilisation by members of the genus ''Passer''|pages=11–29|title=Granivorous birds in the agricultural landscape|editor=Pinowski, J.|editor2=Summers-Smith, J. D.|year=1990|publisher=Pánstwowe Wydawnictom Naukowe|location=Warszawa|isbn=978-83-01-08460-8}}</ref> It winters in the plains of the Indian subcontinent and the Persian Gulf.<ref name="SummersTranscaspicus"/>

=== Habitat ===
[[File:Passer hispaniolensis nid Oranie.jpg|thumb|A nest in an acacia hedge in [[Es Sénia]], Algeria]]
In most of its range, the Spanish sparrow occurs alongside the house sparrow. In such areas, both species breed in farmland and open [[woodland]], with the Spanish sparrow preferring moister habitats. In areas where house sparrows are absent, the Spanish sparrow may live in urban habitats, as in the Canary Islands, Madeira, and some Mediterranean islands. In a few urban areas, such as those in eastern [[Sardinia]], the primary sparrow species is the [[Eurasian tree sparrow]].<ref>{{harvnb|Summers-Smith|1988|pp=171–172}}</ref> Before the Spanish sparrow arrived in the Canary Islands and Madeira, the [[rock sparrow]] was the sole native sparrow. In the Canaries, the Spanish sparrow occurs in most habitats, having ousted the rock sparrow from all but the driest localities. In Madeira the Spanish sparrow is common in cultivated areas, but it has not fully adapted to nesting in buildings or breeding in the drier north of the island.<ref name="SummersHispaniolensis"/><ref name="colonists"/><ref>{{cite journal|author=Lack, David|author-link=David Lack|title=The numbers of bird species on islands|year=1969|journal=Bird Study|volume=16|issue=4|pages=193–209|doi=10.1080/00063656909476244|doi-access=free|bibcode=1969BirdS..16..193L }}</ref> The Spanish sparrow is not common on most of the [[Cape Verde]] islands, due to the presence of the [[endemism|endemic]] [[Iago sparrow]], and the house sparrow on [[São Vicente, Cape Verde|São Vicente]]. On [[Fogo, Cape Verde|Fogo]], where it is the sole species of sparrow, it is common in all habitats, breeding both in the houses of [[São Filipe, Cape Verde|São Filipe]] and on the cliff walls of the volcano [[Pico do Fogo]].<ref name="SummersHispaniolensis"/><ref name="colonists"/>