The Italian Sparrow is a songbird of the sparrow family and an intermediate between House Sparrow and Spanish Sparrow. It is a breeding bird in mainland Italy, Corsica and in parts of Sicily. For what reason ever, there are also Italien Sparrows resident on Heligoland island.
The Italian Sparrow looks very similar to the House Sparrow of which it has inherited the streaked backside and wing patterns and with the white cheeks and chestnut crown and neck of the Spanish Sparrow but whithout the bold black spotting on the underparts. Male Italian Sparrows show a supercilium which is also inherited from the Spanish Sparrow. The female looks similar to the other two species.
Taxonomy:
Order: Passerines (Passeriformes)
Family: Passeridae
Genus: Passer
Species: Italian Sparrow
Scientific Name: Passer [domesticus] italiae (Vieillot 1817)
Name in German: Italiensperling
Name in Czech: Vrabec italský
Name in Slovak: Vrabec taliansky
Name in Hungarian: Olasz veréb
Name in Croat: Talijanski vrabac
Name in French: Moineau cisalpin
Name in Spanish: Gorrión Italiano
Name in Portuguese: Pardal-italiano
Name in Italian: Passera oltremontana
Name in Dutch: Italiaanse Mus
Name in Finish: Italianvarpunen
Name in Norwegian: Romerspurv
Name in Danish: Italiensk Spurv
Name in Swedish: Italiensk sparv
Name in Polnisch: Wróbel apeniński
Name in Russian: Итальянский воробей
Name in Greek: Ιταλικός Σπουργίτης
Name in Turkey: İtalyan serçesi