Family: The yellow-throated sparrow (Gymnoris xanthocollis) is a member of the family Passeridae
Size: The size is about 16 cm and has a mass of 24–39.5 grams.
Distribution: Practically all of India, from about 4,000 feet in the Himalayas to Sri Lanka and from Sind to Bengal, as well as the Shan States (Burma). Not Assam. Also found in Pakistan, Iran, Afghanistan, Bangladesh, and Turkey.
Habits: While often found in the neighborhood of human habitations, the Yellow-throated Sparrow does not establish itself in dwellings in the impudent matter-of-fact way the House Sparrow does. It keeps more open scrub country and light deciduous forest. Flocks of up to 30 to 40 birds are usually met with gleaning paddy grains, or grass seeds, in stubble fields and on the outskirts of cultivation. It also feeds largely on berries, e.g., Lanlana, moths and other insects, and flower nectar. The chirpy call notes are similar to those of the house sparrow but pleasanter. During the day’s heat, the flocks retire into the center of some leafy tree and spend hours in noisy chirruping and chatter.
Field Characters: This species prefers trees, yet it can occasionally be observed leaping across wires on the ground. An unmistakable sparrow with a conspicuous chestnut shoulder patch, two whitish bars in the wing, and a lemon-yellow thumb impression on the throat. The female lacks the last, and the chestnut on her shoulders is paler. Flocks in open, lightly wooded country. Compared to other sparrows in the genus Passer, it has a finer bill and lacks stripes on its feathers.
Nesting: The season is from April to June. The nest is a collection of grass, wool, feathers, and rubbish placed in a hole in a tree at any height between 8 and 25 feet. Woodpecker- and barbet-holes are often appropriated, and nest boxes put up in a garden are freely used. Old street lamps offer favorite nest sites, and sometimes a hole on the outside of a building is occupied. Often, the same hole is used year after year.
Eggs: The sparrow lays three or four eggs—they are whitish or pale greenish-white, profusely spotted, blotched, and streaked with dingy brown. The incubation period is about 12 to 14 days. Both sexes share in building the nest and tending the young.
Breeding: The Yellow-throated Sparrow breeds every year from March to June, usually using the holes that primary hole-nesting birds like woodpeckers and barbets make.
Diet: Insects, nectar, berries, and the petals of flowers like Madhuca indica are among their odd food sources. When they visit flowers like Capparis, Salmalia, Erythrina, and Bassia, their foreheads become covered with pollen.
Vocalizations: The yellow-throated sparrow song is a unique and repeating chilp chalp cholp, with a bounding flight and a deep dip before rising up. Its regular call is a chirrup.
Other Name: This sparrow is also known as chestnut-shouldered Petronia
Races: Two races are recognized, viz., the paler G. x. transfuga transfer of Sind and the N.-W. Frontier, and the darker xanthocollis of the rest of its Indian range, Afghanistan and Pakistan.
Migration: Yellow-throated Sparrow is a resident and local migrant. A portion of the population migrates, moving in reaction to rainfall, and they roost in low shrubs in groups.
