Breeding of Spanish Sparrow in Bahrain

The Spanish Sparrow Passer hispaniolensis is found from Europe and North Africa to western China and Afghanistan. This species shows complex movement patterns, some southern populations are sedentary while others are partially migratory or nomadic. North-ease African birds are considered to be winter visitors from breeding populations in the east of the birds’ range. Birds in the Middle East were considered to be primarily winter visitors to southern Turkey, Iraq, Kuwait and north-west Saudi Arabia (Snow & Perrins, 1998; Beaman & Madge, 1998). During the latter half of the 20th Century it began to establish itself as an irregular breeder in Arabia. It has continued to expand its range during this century with records of breeding in Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates along the western coastal zone of the Arabian Gulf, while most recently two colonies were recorded from Qatar in 2007 (Jennings, in prep)