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House Sparrow

2007 Schools Wikipedia Selection. Related subjects: Birds

        How to read a taxoboxHouse Sparrow

                             Conservation status

   Least Concern
            Scientific classification

   Kingdom: Animalia
   Phylum:  Chordata
   Class:   Aves
   Order:   Passeriformes
   Family:  Passeridae
   Genus:   Passer
   Species: P. domesticus

                                Binomial name

   Passer domesticus
   (Linnaeus, 1758)

   The House Sparrow (Passer domesticus) is a member of the Old World
   sparrow family Passeridae. It occurs naturally in most of Europe and
   much of Asia. It has also followed humans all over the world and has
   been intentionally or accidentally introduced to most of the Americas,
   sub-Saharan Africa and Australia as well as urban areas in other parts
   of the world.

   In the United States it is also known as the English Sparrow, to
   distinguish it from native species, as the large North American
   population is descended from birds deliberately imported from Britain
   in the late 19th century. They were introduced independently in a
   number of American cities in the years between 1850 and 1875 as a means
   of pest control.

   Wherever people build, House Sparrows sooner or later come to share
   their abodes. Though described as tame and semi- domestic, neither is
   strictly true; humans provide food and home, not companionship. The
   House Sparrow remains wary of man.

   This 14 to 16 centimetre long bird is abundant in temperate climates,
   but not universally common; in many hilly districts it is scarce. In
   cities, towns and villages, even around isolated farms, it can be the
   most abundant bird.

   The male House Sparrow has a grey crown, cheeks and underparts, black
   on the throat, upper breast and between the bill and eyes. The bill in
   summer is blue-black, and the legs are brown. In winter the plumage is
   dulled by pale edgings, and the bill is yellowish brown. The female has
   no black on head or throat, nor a grey crown; her upperparts are
   streaked with brown. The juveniles are deeper brown, and the white is
   replaced by buff; the beak is dull yellow. The House Sparrow is often
   confused with the smaller and slimmer Tree Sparrow, which, however, has
   a chestnut and not grey crown, two distinct wing bars, and a black
   patch on each cheek.

   The House Sparrow is gregarious at all seasons in its nesting colonies,
   when feeding and in communal roosts.

   Although the Sparrows' young are fed on the larvae of insects, often
   destructive species, this species eats seeds, including grain where it
   is available.

   In spring, flowers — especially those with yellow colours — are often
   eaten; crocuses, primroses and aconites seem to attract the house
   sparrow most. The bird will also hunt butterflies.

   The Sparrow's most common call is a short and incessant chirp. It also
   has a double call note phillip which originated the now obsolete name
   of "phillip sparrow". While the young are in their nests, the older
   birds utter a long churr. At least three broods are reared in the
   season.

Nesting

                                                                    Female
                                                                    Female

                                                                      Male
                                                                      Male

                                                                  Juvenile
                                                                  Juvenile

                                                                     Chick
                                                                     Chick

   The nesting site is varied; under eaves, in holes in masonry or rocks,
   in ivy or creepers on houses or banks, on the sea-cliffs, or in bushes
   in bays and inlets. When built in holes or ivy, the nest is an untidy
   litter of straw and rubbish, abundantly filled with feathers. Large,
   well-constructed domed nests are often built when the bird nests in
   trees or shrubs, especially rural areas.

   The House Sparrow is quite aggressive in usurping the nesting sites of
   other birds, often forcibly evicting the previous occupants, and
   sometimes even building a new nest directly on top of another active
   nest with live nestlings. House Martins, Bluebirds, and Sand Martins
   are especially susceptible to this behaviour. However, though this
   tendency has occasionally been observed in its native habitats
   (particularly concerning House Martins), it appears to be far more
   common in habitats in which it has been introduced, such as the U.S.

   Five to six eggs, profusely dusted, speckled or blotched with black,
   brown or ash-grey on a blue-tinted or creamy white ground, are usual
   types of the very variable eggs. They are variable in size and shape as
   well as markings. Eggs are incubated by the female. The House Sparrow
   has the shortest incubation period of all the birds: 10-12 days and a
   female can lay 25 eggs a summer in New England.

House Sparrows in Europe

   In large parts of Europe, populations of House Sparrows are decreasing.
   In the Netherlands, the House Sparrow is even considered an endangered
   species. It is however still the second most common breeding bird in
   the Netherlands, after the Blackbird. The population of House Sparrows
   has halved in the period around 1980 till now. Currently the number of
   breeding pairs is estimated at half a million to one million. Similar
   precipitous drops in population have also been recorded in the United
   Kingdom.

   Various causes for its dramatic decrease in population have been
   proposed:
    1. More and more houses were built without roof tiles, or the
       construction of the roofs was so well done, that the sparrows did
       not have space left for building their nests;
    2. Decades ago, when the horse and carriage were replaced by cars,
       less grain was spilt in the streets;
    3. Agricultural changes: often other crops than corn and grain were
       cultivated, and more insecticides were used, which meant a decrease
       of the number of insects that can be eaten by sparrows;
    4. More efficient building in cities resulted in less rough areas
       within cities where the birds could find food;
    5. It became less usual in households to shake the tablecloths outside
       after meals;
    6. Changes in gardening fashions left fewer suitable nesting spots for
       sparrows.

House Sparrows in North America

   While declining somewhat in their adopted homeland, house sparrows are
   still possibly the most abundant bird in the United States, with a
   population estimated as high as 400 million.

   In the United States, the House Sparrow is one of three birds not
   protected by law (the others are the European Starling and Rock Pigeon,
   also introduced species). House Sparrows sometimes kill adult Bluebirds
   and other native cavity nesters and their young and smash their eggs.
   The House Sparrow is partially responsible for a decline of Eastern
   Bluebirds in the United States.

   House Sparrows often take over unmonitored nestboxes and Purple Martin
   houses in the United States. This invasion has led many nestbox
   monitors in the United States to trap or shoot the adults and take
   their eggs in order to allow native species to reproduce. European
   Starlings are aggressive enough to take nests from House Sparrows in
   the United States if the entrance hole is big enough for them to fit
   through.
   Retrieved from " http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/House_Sparrow"
   This reference article is mainly selected from the English Wikipedia
   with only minor checks and changes (see www.wikipedia.org for details
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