Petronia petronia
Silhouette: Andrew Butko (modified) · PhyloPic
In 3 days <5% in a week ~10%
The rock sparrow or rock petronia (Petronia petronia) is a small passerine bird in the sparrow family Passeridae. It is the only species in the genus Petronia. It breeds on barren rocky hills from Madeira and the Canary Islands east through the Iberian Peninsula and western north Africa, across southern Europe and through southwestern and central Asia to Mongolia and the north and west of China. It is resident in the west of its range, but some Asian birds may migrate to more southerly areas, or move to lower altitudes in mountains, in winter.
The first formal description of the rock sparrow was by the Swedish naturalist Carl Linnaeus in 1766 in the twelfth edition of his Systema Naturae. He introduced the binomial name Fringilla petronia. It is now the only species in the genus Petronia that was described by the German naturalist Johann Jakob Kaup in 1829. Petronia is a local name for the rock sparrow from the Bologna area of Italy.
Seven subspecies are recognised: Wikipedia →
| # | Park | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Gobi Gurvansaikhan National Park | 🇲🇳 Mongolia | |
| 2 | Ecrins National Park | 🇫🇷 France | |
| 3 | Monfragüe National Park | 🇪🇸 Spain | |
| 4 | Cévennes National Park | 🇫🇷 France | |
| 5 | Sierra de Guadarrama National Park | 🇪🇸 Spain | |
| 6 | Mercantour National Park | 🇫🇷 France | |
| 7 | Sierra Nevada National Park | 🇪🇸 Spain | |
| 8 | Pyrénées National Park | 🇫🇷 France |
| # | Zoo / Centre | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Yerevan Zoo | 🇦🇲 Armenia |
Rare
Under 5% of wildlife watchers report a Rock Petronia sighting in Madrid on a given day, based on 130 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data. It is the 122nd most-seen of the 196 birds we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to under 5%, and over a week to about 10%, if each day is a fresh chance.
Any time of year
In every month with enough records, under 5% of wildlife watchers report a Rock Petronia in Madrid on a given day, so our monthly data shows no clear season.
Between 9 am and noon
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Rock Petronia sightings with a recorded time, and about 8 in 10 of them come between 6 am and 6 pm: it is a daytime animal.
Among the best
Of the 3 cities where we can rate Rock Petronia sightings, Madrid ranks 2nd at under 5%, level with the leaders once rounded. The best odds are in Marrakesh (Morocco, under 5%).
Same family: Passeridae
The closest relatives of the Rock Petronia that you can see in Madrid (family Passeridae, Old World Sparrows) are House Sparrow (about 80%) and Eurasian Tree Sparrow (about 40%), with each one's daily chance of a sighting.
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Rock Petronia is recorded against all the birds logged in Madrid (130 verified sightings), calibrated against known sighting rates. Figures are rounded to the nearest 10% because citizen-science data supports honest approximations, not decimals, and months with records from fewer than five people show "—". How it works.
