Great Sparrow
Photo: Derek Keats · CC BY 2.0

Snowfinches and Old World Sparrows

Great Sparrow

Passer motitensis

LCLeast Concern
Family
Snowfinches and Old World Sparrows (Passeridae)
Order
Passeriformes

Overview

The great sparrow (Passer motitensis), also known as the southern rufous sparrow, is found in southern Africa in dry, wooded savannah and towns.
This is a 15–16 cm long sparrow superficially like a large house sparrow. It has a grey crown and rear neck and rufous upperparts.
While in the past some authorities considered this species and several related species of 'rufous sparrow' on the African mainland to be the same as the Iago sparrow of Cape Verde, they do not appear to be so closely related as thought.

Summary from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.

Range and habitat

Sources and further reading

Last updated September 29, 2026.