The Desert Sparrow is a small, sandy-colored sparrow. Males have a black bib and black lores, and the species occurs in desert scrub and around oases.
Males have pale gray upperparts, a black bib and black lores, sandy underparts, and white patches on the wings. Females are sandy overall with paler underparts.
It uses sandy arid habitats, desert scrub, plantations, oases, and tamarisk scrub. BirdLife classifies it as non-migratory.
An extinction-risk assessment has not been added yet.