Nest Site Selection by Two Subspecies of Dead Sea Sparrow (Passer moabiticus mesopotamicus Zarudny, 1904 and P. m. yatii Sharpe, 1888) in Iran

The choice of a nesting habitat is a key component of fitness for birds which influence population’s dynamic. Therefore, quantitative studies of habitat selection are fundamental for protecting species’ suitable habitat. Dead Sea Sparrow with sparse populations, and with two subspecies presence in southern of Iran. This species has unclear taxonomic and ecological situation. Surveying habitat selection behavior in micro-scale is a useful means for clarifying this species situation and its conservation. Here, we combined information from nest sites detected in 2018 in Zabol (25 Presence and 15 absent plots) and Karkhe National Park in Shoush (20 Presence and 22 absent plots), a set of environmental variables measured at landscape and fine spatial scales, and generalized linear models to identify patterns of nest site selection by two Dead Sea sparrow species.  These results revealed that among measured habitat variables (DHB, height and stability of nested tree, distance to water resource percentage of tamarix, bush, shrub and bare ground) tamarix tree percentage and distance to water have substantial role on presence, nesting and breeding of these sub species. Our results suggest that based on dependency of this specie to tamarix tree and water resource, in order to preserve this species specially P. m. yatii subspecies as it is geographically and genetically isolated, preserving of tamarix jungles near to rivers and Hamoon river should be accounted by managers.