Italian Sparrow, Northrepps, Norfolk. |
The Italian
Sparrow (Passer
italiae), also known as the Cisalpine
Sparrow, is a passerine bird of the sparrow family Passeridae, found in Italy and other parts of the Mediterranean
region. In appearance, it is intermediate between the House Sparrow, and the Spanish
Sparrow, a species of the Mediterranean and Central Asia closely
related to the House Sparrow. The Italian Sparrow occurs in northern Italy and
neighbouring regions, with intermediates with the House Sparrow in a very
narrow contact zone in the Alps, a slow gradation in appearance from the Italian
to Spanish Sparrows across central and southern Italy, and more birds of
intermediate appearance in Malta, Crete, and other parts of the Mediterranean. There has
been much debate on the origins and taxonomic status of the Italian Sparrow,
especially given its possible hybrid origin. Some have classified it as a
subspecies of House Sparrow, a subspecies of the Spanish Sparrow, or as a
distinct species, a treatment followed if only for convenience by authorities
such as the Handbook of the
Birds of the World. A
DNA analysis by Glenn-Peter Sætre and colleagues published in 2011 indicated an
origin of the Italian Sparrow through hybridisation between the Spanish and
House Sparrows, and Sætre and colleagues argued that given its origins and the
limited extent of hybridisation, the treatment as a distinct species was
supported
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