The Abd al-Kuri Sparrow (Passer hemileucus) is a passerine

Passerine

A passerine is a bird of the order Passeriformes, which includes more than half of all bird species. Sometimes known as perching birds or, less accurately, as songbirds, the passerines form one of the most diverse terrestrial vertebrate orders: with over 5,000 identified species, it has roughly...

 bird endemic to the small island of Abd al Kuri

Abd al Kuri

Abd al Kuri is a rocky island about 65 miles southwest of Socotra in the Indian Ocean. It is part of the Socotra Archipelago and belongs to Yemen, although it is geographically closer to the Horn of Africa....

 (also spelled several other ways) in the Socotra

Socotra

Socotra , also spelt Soqotra, is a small archipelago of four islands in the Indian Ocean. The largest island, also called Socotra, is about 95% of the landmass of the archipelago. It lies some east of the Horn of Africa and south of the Arabian Peninsula. The island is very isolated and through...

 archiplago of the Indian Ocean

Indian Ocean

The Indian Ocean is the third largest of the world's oceanic divisions, covering approximately 20% of the water on the Earth's surface. It is bounded on the north by the Indian Subcontinent and Arabian Peninsula ; on the west by eastern Africa; on the east by Indochina, the Sunda Islands, and...

, off the Horn of Africa

Horn of Africa

The Horn of Africa is a peninsula in East Africa that juts hundreds of kilometers into the Arabian Sea and lies along the southern side of the Gulf of Aden. It is the easternmost projection of the African continent...

. Though this species was originally described as a distinct species, it is usually considered the same as the Socotra Sparrow

Socotra Sparrow

The Socotra Sparrow is a passerine bird endemic to the islands of Socotra, Samhah, and Darsah in the Indian Ocean, off the Horn of Africa...

. A study by Guy Kirwan showed significant differences from the Socotra Sparrow, and that the two sparrows might even have different origins. On the evidence that it is morphologically

Morphology (biology)

In biology, morphology is a branch of bioscience dealing with the study of the form and structure of organisms and their specific structural features....

 distinct, BirdLife International

BirdLife International

BirdLife International is a global Partnership of conservation organisations that strives to conserve birds, their habitats and global biodiversity, working with people towards sustainability in the use of natural resources...

 (and hence the IUCN Red List

IUCN Red List

The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species , founded in 1963, is the world's most comprehensive inventory of the global conservation status of biological species. The International Union for Conservation of Nature is the world's main authority on the conservation status of species...

) recognised it as a species, and it was listed in the IOC World Bird List from December 2009. It has a very restricted distribution, and a population of under 1,000 individuals, so despite not having any known threats it is considered a Vulnerable species

Vulnerable species

On 30 January 2010, the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species identified 9694 Vulnerable species, subspecies and varieties, stocks and sub-populations.-References:...

on the IUCN Red List.