| The Sind Sparrow is a very local
species almost entirely restricted to the Indus
valley in Pakistan where it is resident. For many
years it was only known in India from babuls in
the Sutlej Valley in the Punjab (most famously at
Harike). Then in January 2001 it was found by Haryana‘s
leading birder and a founding member of our group,
Suresh C. Sharma, again in babuls, along canals
in the Sonipat area. Over the next three years it
has been discovered further south as far as Bhindawas
(where there is now a thriving breeding colony),
Sultanpur and parts of north Delhi. It is always
near water with babuls and is assumed to have spread
along the canal systems. Given how long most of
these canals have been in existence it is a real
puzzle why they should have started spreading only
in the twenty-first century. But they remain very
local, never numerous and easily overlooked. There
is only one race recognised in the world.
Sind Sparrows nest from March to June in babuls,
often building under the used nests of other birds
such as egrets and Pied Starlings. They are best
located in the breeding season when their distinctive
high and rocking “cheepa cheepa”
call and periodic “tsweep”
note attract attention. They feed in the leaves
and flowers of babuls and are sometimes heavily
stained with the pollen thereof. They are also
very partial to the seeding heads of grasses and
reeds, especially elephant grass, but it is not
known to what extent they feed on cultivated cereals.
Indeed much remains to be learnt about their ecology
and behaviour. Unlike other sparrow species, they
are rarely seen on the ground except below grass
clumps or when drinking.
Although it is not always obvious in the field,
Sind Sparrows are smaller and slimmer than House
and this is striking in the hand. The male has
a grey crown and nape with striking broad chestnut
borders to the upper and rear cheek. The median
coverts are contrasting chestnut. Most noticeable
is the small, neat, black, rectangular-shaped
throat patch (but beware immature male House Sparrows).
The female is like a small female House Sparrow
but with obvious supercilia and greyer cheeks.
They often show chestnut lesser wing coverts.
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