The plain-backed sparrow, also called the Pegu sparrow or olive-backed sparrow, is a sparrow found in Southeast Asia. Its range spans from Myanmar to central Vietnam, and south to the western part of Peninsular Malaysia.
Region
Southeast Asia
Typical Environment
Occurs from Myanmar east through Thailand and Laos to central Vietnam, and south into western Peninsular Malaysia. It frequents open scrub, grasslands, agricultural fields, village edges, orchards, and secondary growth. The species generally avoids dense interior forest, preferring mosaic landscapes with scattered trees and hedgerows. It is common around rice paddies and along roadsides, canals, and river plains.
Altitude Range
0–1500 m
Climate Zone
Tropical
Ease of Keeping
Beginner friendly: 2/5
Also known as the Pegu sparrow or olive-backed sparrow, this species favors open country and cultivated landscapes over dense forests. It often associates loosely with other sparrows near villages and farms but is generally less tied to buildings than the house sparrow. Males show a richer head pattern, while females are plainer and more cryptic. It adapts well to disturbed habitats and agricultural mosaics.
Temperament
social and active
Flight Pattern
short rapid wingbeats
Social Behavior
Often forages in small flocks outside the breeding season and may form loose mixed groups with other sparrows. Nests in small colonies or dispersed pairs, placing cup nests in trees, thickets, or building eaves. Uses grasses and fine stems for nest material, with clutches typically of several pale eggs.
Migratory Pattern
Resident
Song Description
Vocalizations are a series of sharp chirps and metallic cheeps typical of sparrows. Males deliver simple, repetitive phrases from exposed perches, interspersed with chatter in flocks.
Plumage
Unstreaked, plain olive-brown to warm brown back with paler buff underparts; wings show subtle pale edging. Male has a chestnut crown and nape, a small black bib, and a pale supercilium with greyish cheeks. Female is duller with a more uniform brown head, faint eyebrow, and no distinct bib. Both sexes have a stout conical bill typical of sparrows.
Diet
Feeds on seeds of grasses and weeds, spilled grain, and crop remnants in agricultural areas. Takes small insects, especially during the breeding season to provision nestlings. Also consumes buds and soft plant matter opportunistically. Forages by ground-gleaning and low perch-gleaning.
Preferred Environment
Common around rice fields, fallow plots, roadsides, and village margins with scattered shrubs and trees. Often feeds along field edges, stubble, and near grain storage or livestock areas where spillage occurs.
