CreatureData

Great sparrow

Passer motitensis (A. Smith, 1836)

LCLeast Concernsongbirds

The great sparrow (Passer motitensis) is a species in the family Passeridae, order Passeriformes. Recorded adults weigh 30.2 g to 34.7 g. Its IUCN Red List status is Least Concern.

Great sparrow (Passer motitensis)
Photo: Derek Keats · CC BY 2.0 · Wikimedia Commons

Quick facts about the great sparrow

Weight
30.2 g – 34.7 gsrc for Weight
Length
Not recorded
Lifespan
Not recorded
Diet
Granivoresrc for Diet
Main food
Not recorded
Habitat
grasslandsrc for Habitat
Young per litter or clutch
3.2 – 3.3src for Young per litter or clutch
Lifestyle
Terrestrialsrc for Lifestyle
Migration
Sedentarysrc for Migration
Conservation status
Least Concern (IUCN)src for Conservation status
Countries on record
Not recorded

Where does the great sparrow live?

Not recorded

What is the great sparrow?

Quoted from WikipediaCC BY-SA 4.0

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. A few currently recognise only some of the rufous sparrows as separate from the great sparrow, but the Handbook of the Birds of the World and BirdLife International recognise the Socotra sparrow, Kenya sparrow, Kordofan sparrow, and Shelley's sparrow as separate species.

From the Wikipedia article “Great sparrow” (en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Great_sparrow&oldid=1380715686), by Wikipedia contributors, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0 (creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0). This block is kept separate from our own text.

Is the great sparrow endangered?

The great sparrow is listed as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List: it is not currently at risk of extinction.

  1. LCLeast Concern
  2. NTNear Threatened
  3. VUVulnerable
  4. ENEndangered
  5. CRCritically Endangered
  6. EWExtinct in the Wild
  7. EXExtinct

Category via Wikidata (CC0). Find the full assessment on the IUCN Red List. See all Least Concern species.

How is the great sparrow classified?

  1. kingdomAnimalia
  2. phylumChordata
  3. classAves
  4. orderPasseriformes
  5. familyPasseridae
  6. genusPasser
  7. SpeciesPasser motitensis (A. Smith, 1836)

Synonyms Megapasser motitensis, Pyrgita motitensis

Other names and names in other languages (39)
  • Great rufous sparrowEnglish
  • Rufous sparrowEnglish
  • Rufous sparrowEnglish
  • Southern rufous-sparrowEnglish
  • Southern rufous-sparrowEnglish
  • GrootmossieAfrikaans
  • دوري كبيرArabic
  • pardal grosCatalan
  • vrabec světlelícíCzech
  • golfan mawrWelsh
  • RustspurvDanish
  • RostsperlingGerman
  • granda paseroEsperanto
  • Gorrión grandeSpanish
  • Lõuna-savannivarblaneEstonian
  • SavannivarblaneEstonian
  • savannivarblane (lõuna-savannivarblane)Estonian
  • گنجشک بزرگPersian
  • afrikanvarpunenFinnish
  • Grand MoineauFrench
  • Gealbhan donnruaIrish
  • veliki vrabacCroatian
  • Passera rossiccia maggioreItalian
  • オオスズメJapanese
  • didysis žvirblisLithuanian
  • Улбар шар богширгоMongolian
  • RoestmusDutch
  • akasiespurvNorwegian
  • wróbel rdzawyPolish
  • وڈی چڑیWestern Panjabi
  • pardal-grandePortuguese
  • Большой воробейRussian
  • vrabec hrdzavýSlovak
  • Crvenosmeđi vrabacSerbian
  • akaciasparvSwedish
  • Büyük SerçeTurkish
  • горобець великийUkrainian
  • 棕麻雀Chinese
  • 紅麻雀Chinese

Catalogue of LifeWikipediaiNaturalistWikidataIUCN Red List

Relatives of the great sparrow

Other species in the same genus Passer.

CompareGreat sparrow vs House sparrowGreat sparrow vs Eurasian tree sparrowGreat sparrow vs Spanish sparrowGreat sparrow vs Sudan golden sparrow

Common questions

Answered only where our data holds the answer.

How big is the great sparrow?

An adult great sparrow weighs 30.2 g – 34.7 g, according to values recorded on Wikidata.

Is the great sparrow endangered?

The great sparrow is listed as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List, meaning it is not currently at risk of extinction.

What kind of animal is the great sparrow?

The great sparrow (Passer motitensis) belongs to the family Passeridae in the order Passeriformes.

Sources and how to cite this page

Data as of 2026-11-11. How this page is put together.

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APA

CreatureData. (2026). Great sparrow (Passer motitensis). Retrieved from https://creaturedata.com/animals/great-sparrow

MLA

“Great sparrow (Passer motitensis).” CreatureData, 2026, https://creaturedata.com/animals/great-sparrow.

BibTeX
@misc{great_sparrow_2026,
  title = {Great sparrow (Passer motitensis)},
  author = {{CreatureData}},
  year = {2026},
  url = {https://creaturedata.com/animals/great-sparrow},
  note = {Data as of 2026-11-11}
}