Passer domesticus
house sparrow

The House Sparrow is distributed worldwide (excluding the Poles). It is native to Eurasia and North Africa. It was introduced into S. Africa, South America, Australia, New Zealand, and America. Its introduction into North America occured in 1851, when a group of 100 birds from England was released in Brooklyn, New York.

House Sparrows like areas that have been modified by humans, including farms, residential, and urban areas. They are absent from uninhabited woodlands, deserts, forests, and grasslands.

The House Sparrow is a stout, stocky sparrow, with shorter legs and a thicker bill than indigenous American sparrows. Members of both sexes are brown backed with black streaks throughout this area. Its underside is pale buff. Males have white cheeks and a black bib, while females do not. The tail is usually three-quarters the length of the wing. Wing length is 76 mm and average mass is 28.5 grams.

A wild House Sparrow lived to be 13 years and 4 months old, though most will live for only several years.

House Sparrows tend to forage for food on the ground, using a hopping movement when not in flight. Their flight is direct, with continued flapping and no periods of gliding.

House Sparrows aggressively protect a small teritorry just around their nesting site. This is believed to be strictly a protection of the nest site, and not of any feeding areas. Sparrows have been observed to threaten, and if necessary, attack 70 species of birds that have come into their nesting territory. These attacks seem to be intrasexual, males attack males and females attack only females.

House Sparrows use a set of postures and behaviors to communicate with others of their species. House Sparrows also have a set of vocalizations that are used to attract mates, deter intruders, and warn others.

House Sparrows eat various kinds of seed supplemented by some insects. Rural birds tend to eat more waste seed from animal dung and seed from fields, while urban birds tend to eat more commercial birdseed and weed seed. Studies of the contents of House Sparrow stomachs in Alabama, Conn., Illinois, Iowa, Mass., Michigan, Miss., Penn., and Vermont have shown approximate amounts of seed to be 60% livestock feed (corn, wheat, oats, etc.), 18% cereals (grains from storage or from fields), 17 % weed seed, and 4% insects.

Many hawks and owls hunt and feed on house sparrows. These include Cooper's hawks, merlins, snowy owls, eastern screech owls, and many others. Known predators of nesting young or eggs include cats, domestic dogs, raccoons, and many snakes. House sparrows avoid predation by foraging in small flocks so that there are many eyes watching out for potential predators.

House Sparrows are abundant near human habitations. In these areas they serve as an important prey base for birds of prey and they may have an impact on plant communities because they consume large quantities of seeds.

Due to its preference for human-modified habitats, the House Sparrow is considered a nuisance species, a competitor of native birds, and an agricultural pest. Large aggregations around buildings produce annoying noise and large quantities of feces.

The House Sparrow has proven well-suited for studies of general biological problems, such as evolutionary mechanisms, temperature metabolism, and pest control.

When first introduced into the United States in 1851, House Sparrows were protected from predators and fed. The species soon began to prosper in its new setting, and opinion changed to see House Sparrows as a nuisance. Since the 1960's, with the changes in farming to larger, monocrop farms, House Sparrow populations have declined. They are not, however, seen as threatened and are not included in most Canadian and U.S. regulations.