Rock Sparrow/Petronia Petronia petronia

The Rock Sparrow, also called Petronia, is not a true sparrow (Passer species) but is sparrow-like in appearance. They are native to rocky areas in western North Africa/Canary Islands, across southern Europe through to Central Asia. Apologies for poor photos taken through sloping front window of car (Tenerife).

The breeding adults have a bright, primrose yellow throat patch in addition to the eye-stripe and two head stripes. The size of the yellow patch varies among individuals and is not always visible. The better photos immediately above and of the juvenile below were taken by Alexandra Makhnina in Kazakhstan.

The juvenile "rock star", as above, doesn't have the yellow throat patch. They are now the only species in their genus, since other yellow-throated, sparrowlike species were moved to other genera.