House Sparrow

Passer domesticusOrder: PASSERIFORMES Family: Old World Sparrows (Passeridae)

Codes: Common Name: HOSP Scientific Name: PASDOM ITIS Taxonomic No.: 179628

House Sparrow: The male House Sparrow has black-streaked brown upperparts and pale gray underparts. The wings are brown with a single white bar. The cheeks and crown are pale gray, contrasting with a black throat, upper breast, and bill.

Birdman Mel's Backyard Tips

Overview

House Sparrow: Medium-sized, stocky sparrow with black-streaked brown upperparts and pale gray underparts. Wings are brown with single white bar. Cheeks and crown are pale gray, contrasting with black throat, upper breast, and bill. Legs are shorter and black bill is thicker than in native sparrows.

Range and Habitat

House Sparrow: Native to Britain, northern Scandinavia, and northern Siberia to northern Africa, Arabia, India, and Burma. Introduced and established worldwide except in Antarctica; resident throughout temperate North America. Preferred habitats include cities, towns, and agricultural areas.

Topo Map: Perching-like Body

Listen to Call

Voice Text

"cheep-cheep-cheep"

Interesting Facts

The Old Testament Bible associates the symbol of the sparrow with loneliness.and solitude, while the New Testament views it as a sign of insignificance. Poor House Sparrow.

In Japan the sparrow is traditionally a symbol of loyalty, perhaps because of its socialable nature and how it it gets along in large numbers.

These birds return to their birthplace after every migration (a characteristic known as philopatric). Because of this, local populations have adapted to the color of their habitat resulting in 15 distinct subspecies in the West.

A group of house sparrows are collectively known as a "blight", "humiliation", and "subdivision" of sparrows.

Bird Term Glossary

Author

Gary Owen Dick

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Bird Call Credits: The Macaulay Library of Natural Sounds at the Cornell Lab of Ornithology. Martyn Stewart, http://www.naturesound.org, Redmond, Washington USA. The reuse or copying of bird calls in this database is strictly forbidden.

House Sparrow

● Song: "cheep-cheep-cheep"

● Foraging & Feeding: House Sparrow: Diet consists of insects, seeds, and fruits; forages on the ground, in trees and shrubs, usually in urban and rural areas.

● Breeding & nesting: House Sparrow: Three to seven blue or green eggs, spotted with gray and brown, are laid in a loose nest made of grass, feathers, strips of paper, string, and similar debris, and built in a man-made or natural cavity; also nests in bird boxes. Incubation ranges from 10 to 14 days and is carried out mostly by the female.

● Similar species: House Sparrow: Eurasian Tree Sparrow has a black spot on ear coverts and an entirely brown crown. Unstreaked, gray underparts and large, pale bill distinguishes the female from other sparrows.

Flight Pattern

Swift bounding flight., Alternates several rapid wing beats with brief periods of wings pulled to sides.

● Range & Habitat: House Sparrow: Native to Britain, northern Scandinavia, and northern Siberia to northern Africa, Arabia, India, and Burma. Introduced and established worldwide except in Antarctica; resident throughout temperate North America. Preferred habitats include cities, towns, and agricultural areas.

^BreedingMonogamous, Some promiscuous

^PopulationWidespread, Abundant

^MigrationNonmigratory

^Weight1 Ounces

Perching-like Body

Underparts

Belly, undertail coverts, chest, flanks, and foreneck.

Upperparts

Back, rump, hindneck, wings, and crown.

Breast

The upper front part of a bird.

Crown

The crown is the top part of the birds head.

4 and 6 letter alpha codes

The four letter common name alpha code is is derived from the first two letters of the common first name and the first two letters of common last name. The six letter species name alpha code is derived from the first three letters of the scientific name (genus) and the first three letters of the scientific name (species). See (1) below for the rules used to create the codes..

Four-letter (for English common names) and six-letter (for scientific names) species alpha codes were developed by Pyle and DeSante (2003, North American Bird-Bander 28:64-79) to reflect A.O.U. taxonomy and nomenclature (A.O.U. 1998) as modified by Supplements 42 (Auk 117:847-858, 2000) and 43 (Auk 119:897-906, 2002). The list has been updated by Pyle and DeSante to reflect changes reported by the A.O.U from 2003 through 2006.

Field Guide to Birds of North America

House Sparrow

Birdman Mel's Backyard Tips

Overview

Range and Habitat

Topo Map: Perching-like Body

Listen to Call

Voice Text

Interesting Facts

Bird Term Glossary

Author

Related Birds

House Sparrow

Flight Pattern