The rock sparrow or rock petronia (Petronia petronia) is a small passerine bird in the sparrow family Passeridae. It is the only member of the genus Petronia. It breeds on barren rocky hills from the Iberian peninsula and western north Africa across southern Europe and through the Palearctic Siberia and north and central China. It is largely resident in the west of its range, but Asian birds migrate to more southerly areas, or move down the mountains.
The rock sparrow is similar in size to a house sparrow but with a larger more conical bill.[6] It is around 14 cm (5.5 in) in length, with a strong whitish supercilium and weaker crown stripe. It has a patterned brown back and wings, streaked underparts, and a diagnostic, but hard-to-see, yellow throat spot. Petronia petronia are monochromatic, with a distinctive yellow patch on their upper breast that starkly contrasts the earth tones of their plumage. This carotenoid-based trait is present in both sexes, and plays an important role during the breeding season, signalling both attractiveness and social status.[7] This bird has a loud wheezy song.
Distribution and habitatedit
It is a rare vagrant north of its breeding range. There is just a single record from Great Britain, at Cley, Norfolk on 14 June 1981.[8] This gregarious bird is also found in human settlements in suitable country.
It nests in crevices in rocks or walls, laying four to five eggs.[9] Rock sparrows exhibit a variety of mating patterns, most notably monogamy and sequential and simultaneous polyandry; however, social monogamy is the most abundant mating pattern. The frequencies of these various mating patterns most likely vary with numerous ecological and social factors. Many studies have shown that both males and females prefer a mate with a larger yellow patch. It has also been shown that male brood defence behaviours increase with greater female ornamentation. Males also differentially allocate parental investment according to female ornamentation; this behaviour is not observed in females. In alpine colonies of Petronia petronia, females perform most of the provisioning. In Asian colonies, both males and females contribute equally to the care of the young. Males of larger sizes feed their young at higher rates, which suggests that larger males occupy better territories and/or are better fathers. Studies have found a positive correlation between male yellow breast patch size and nestling tarsus length, which suggests that more ornamented males are also better parents. Females increase the number of non-feeding visits to their nest as the season progresses, suggesting that because females have lesser opportunities to lay other clutches, it is most advantageous to support the survival of their current offspring. A positive relationship between the number of deserting females and the number of available males has been recorded.[7]
Food and feedingedit
The rock sparrow mainly forages on the ground. It eats seeds throughout the year and berries in autumn. In the spring its diet includes invertebrates, particularly caterpillars and grasshoppers. These are also fed to the young.[10]
Referencesedit
^BirdLife International (2016). "Petronia petronia". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. 2016: e.T22718307A88032500. doi:10.2305/IUCN.UK.2016-3.RLTS.T22718307A88032500.en. Retrieved 12 November 2021.
^Linnaeus, Carl (1766). Systema naturae : per regna tria natura, secundum classes, ordines, genera, species, cum characteribus, differentiis, synonymis, locis (in Latin). Vol. 1, Part 1 (12th ed.). Holmiae (Stockholm): Laurentii Salvii. p. 322.
^Kaup, Johann Jakob (1829). Skizzirte Entwickelungs-Geschichte und Naturliches System der Europaischen Thierwelt (in German). Darmstadt: Carl Wilhelm Leske. p. 158.
^ abGill, Frank; Donsker, David, eds. (2018). "Old World sparrows, snowfinches, weavers". World Bird List Version 8.1. International Ornithologists' Union. Retrieved 8 May 2018.
^Jobling, James A. (2010). The Helm Dictionary of Scientific Bird Names. London: Christopher Helm. p. 300. ISBN978-1-4081-2501-4.
Cramp, Stanley, ed. (1994). "Petronia petronia Rock Sparrow". Handbook of the birds of Europe the Middle East and North Africa. The Birds of the Western Palearctic. Volume VIII: Crows to Finches. Oxford: Oxford University Press. pp. 371–385. ISBN978-0-19-854679-5.
External linksedit
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Petronia petronia.
Rock sparrow at Madeira Birds
Photos at Oiseaux
Ageing and sexing by Javier Blasco-Zumeta & Gerd-Michael Heinze (PDF; 1.1 MB)
April 12, 2024
rock, sparrow, other, uses, petronia, disambiguation, rock, sparrow, rock, petronia, petronia, petronia, small, passerine, bird, sparrow, family, passeridae, only, member, genus, petronia, breeds, barren, rocky, hills, from, iberian, peninsula, western, north,. For other uses see Petronia disambiguation The rock sparrow or rock petronia Petronia petronia is a small passerine bird in the sparrow family Passeridae It is the only member of the genus Petronia It breeds on barren rocky hills from the Iberian peninsula and western north Africa across southern Europe and through the Palearctic Siberia and north and central China It is largely resident in the west of its range but Asian birds migrate to more southerly areas or move down the mountains Rock sparrowIn Ariege Midi Pyrenee FranceConservation statusLeast Concern IUCN 3 1 1 Scientific classificationDomain EukaryotaKingdom AnimaliaPhylum ChordataClass AvesOrder PasseriformesFamily PasseridaeGenus PetroniaKaup 1829Species P petroniaBinomial namePetronia petronia Linnaeus 1766 SynonymsFringilla petronia Linnaeus 1766 Contents 1 Taxonomy 2 Description 3 Distribution and habitat 4 Behaviour 4 1 Breeding 4 2 Food and feeding 5 References 6 Sources 7 External linksTaxonomy editThe first formal description of the rock sparrow was by the Swedish naturalist Carl Linnaeus in 1766 in the twelfth edition of his Systema Naturae He introduced the binomial name Fringilla petronia 2 It is now the only species in the genus Petronia that was introduced by the German naturalist Johann Jakob Kaup in 1829 3 4 Petronia is a local name for the rock sparrow from the Bologna area of Italy 5 Seven subspecies are recognised 4 P p petronia Linnaeus 1766 Madeira and Canary Islands south Europe to west Turkey P p barbara Erlanger 1899 northwest Africa P p puteicola Festa 1894 south Turkey to Jordan P p exigua Hellmayr 1902 central Turkey to the Caucasus north Iran and north Iraq P p kirhizica Sushkin 1925 Caspian Sea to Kyrgyzstan P p intermedia Hartert 1901 Iran and north Afghanistan to northwest China P p brevirostris Taczanowski 1874 Mongolia south central Siberia and north and central ChinaSome species have once been classified under Petronia specifically from the related genus Gymnoris Petronia superciliaris Petronia dentata Petronia xanthocollis and Carpospiza Petronia brachydactyla Description editThe rock sparrow is similar in size to a house sparrow but with a larger more conical bill 6 It is around 14 cm 5 5 in in length with a strong whitish supercilium and weaker crown stripe It has a patterned brown back and wings streaked underparts and a diagnostic but hard to see yellow throat spot Petronia petronia are monochromatic with a distinctive yellow patch on their upper breast that starkly contrasts the earth tones of their plumage This carotenoid based trait is present in both sexes and plays an important role during the breeding season signalling both attractiveness and social status 7 This bird has a loud wheezy song Distribution and habitat editIt is a rare vagrant north of its breeding range There is just a single record from Great Britain at Cley Norfolk on 14 June 1981 8 This gregarious bird is also found in human settlements in suitable country Behaviour edit nbsp Eggs from the collection of the MHNTBreeding edit It nests in crevices in rocks or walls laying four to five eggs 9 Rock sparrows exhibit a variety of mating patterns most notably monogamy and sequential and simultaneous polyandry however social monogamy is the most abundant mating pattern The frequencies of these various mating patterns most likely vary with numerous ecological and social factors Many studies have shown that both males and females prefer a mate with a larger yellow patch It has also been shown that male brood defence behaviours increase with greater female ornamentation Males also differentially allocate parental investment according to female ornamentation this behaviour is not observed in females In alpine colonies of Petronia petronia females perform most of the provisioning In Asian colonies both males and females contribute equally to the care of the young Males of larger sizes feed their young at higher rates which suggests that larger males occupy better territories and or are better fathers Studies have found a positive correlation between male yellow breast patch size and nestling tarsus length which suggests that more ornamented males are also better parents Females increase the number of non feeding visits to their nest as the season progresses suggesting that because females have lesser opportunities to lay other clutches it is most advantageous to support the survival of their current offspring A positive relationship between the number of deserting females and the number of available males has been recorded 7 Food and feeding edit The rock sparrow mainly forages on the ground It eats seeds throughout the year and berries in autumn In the spring its diet includes invertebrates particularly caterpillars and grasshoppers These are also fed to the young 10 References edit BirdLife International 2016 Petronia petronia IUCN Red List of Threatened Species 2016 e T22718307A88032500 doi 10 2305 IUCN UK 2016 3 RLTS T22718307A88032500 en Retrieved 12 November 2021 Linnaeus Carl 1766 Systema naturae per regna tria natura secundum classes ordines genera species cum characteribus differentiis synonymis locis in Latin Vol 1 Part 1 12th ed Holmiae Stockholm Laurentii Salvii p 322 Kaup Johann Jakob 1829 Skizzirte Entwickelungs Geschichte und Naturliches System der Europaischen Thierwelt in German Darmstadt Carl Wilhelm Leske p 158 a b Gill Frank Donsker David eds 2018 Old World sparrows snowfinches weavers World Bird List Version 8 1 International Ornithologists Union Retrieved 8 May 2018 Jobling James A 2010 The Helm Dictionary of Scientific Bird Names London Christopher Helm p 300 ISBN 978 1 4081 2501 4 Cramp 1994 p 371 a b Garcia Navas V del Rincon A G Ferrer E S Fathi H 2013 Mating strategies parental investment and mutual ornamentation in Iberian Rock Sparrows Petronia petronia Behaviour 150 14 1641 663 doi 10 1163 1568539x 00003112 Gantlett S J M Millington R G 1983 Rock Sparrow new to Britain and Ireland PDF British Birds 76 6 245 247 Cramp 1994 p 396 Cramp 1994 p 374 Sources editCramp Stanley ed 1994 Petronia petronia Rock Sparrow Handbook of the birds of Europe the Middle East and North Africa The Birds of the Western Palearctic Volume VIII Crows to Finches Oxford Oxford University Press pp 371 385 ISBN 978 0 19 854679 5 External links edit nbsp Wikimedia Commons has media related to Petronia petronia Rock sparrow at Madeira Birds Photos at Oiseaux Ageing and sexing by Javier Blasco Zumeta amp Gerd Michael Heinze PDF 1 1 MB Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Rock sparrow amp oldid 1193786077, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
