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Sparrow

2007 Schools Wikipedia Selection. Related subjects: Birds

            iOld World sparrows
   House Sparrow
   House Sparrow
         Scientific classification

   Kingdom: Animalia
   Phylum:  Chordata
   Class:   Aves
   Order:   Passeriformes
   Family:  Passeridae
            Illiger, 1811

                                   Genera

   Passer
   Petronia
   Carpospiza
   Montifringilla

   This article is about "true sparrows," the Old World sparrows in the
   family Passeridae. Sparrows are small passerine birds. The differences
   between sparrow species can be subtle. In general, sparrows tend to be
   small plump brownish or greyish birds with short tails and stubby
   powerful beaks. They are primarily seed-eaters, though they also
   consume small insects. A few species scavenge for food around cities,
   and like gulls or pigeons will happily eat virtually anything in small
   quantities.

   The Old World true sparrows are found indigenously in Europe, Africa,
   and Asia. In Australia and the Americas, early settlers imported some
   species which quickly naturalised, particularly in urban and degraded
   areas. House Sparrows, for example, are now found throughout North
   America, in every state of Australia except Western Australia, and over
   much of heavily populated parts of South America.

   Some authorities also classify the closely related estrildid finches of
   the equatorial regions and Australasia as members of the Passeridae.
   Like the true sparrows, the estrildid finches are small, gregarious,
   and often colonial seed-eaters with short, thick, but pointed bills.
   They are broadly similar in structure and habits, but tend to be very
   colourful and vary greatly in their plumage. About 140 species are
   native to the old world tropics and Australasia. Most taxonomic schemes
   list the estrildid finches as the separate family Estrildidae, leaving
   just the true sparrows in Passeridae.

   American sparrows, or New World sparrows, are not closely related to
   the true sparrows, despite some physical resemblance, such as the
   seed-eaters bill and frequently well-marked heads. They are in the
   family Emberizidae.

   The Hedge Sparrow or Dunnock (Prunella modularis) is similarly
   unrelated. It is a sparrow in name only, a relic of the old practice of
   calling any small bird a "sparrow".

   There are 35 species of Old World sparrows, in four genera.

Species list

     * Passer, the true sparrows
          + Saxaul Sparrow, Passer ammodendri
          + House Sparrow, Passer domesticus
          + Spanish Sparrow, Passer hispaniolensis
          + Sind Sparrow, Passer pyrrhonotus
          + Somali Sparrow, Passer castanopterus
          + Cinnamon Sparrow or Russet Sparrow, Passer rutilans
          + Pegu Sparrow or Plain-backed Sparrow, Passer flaveolus
          + Dead Sea Sparrow, Passer moabiticus
          + Rufous Sparrow, Passer motitensis
          + Socotra Sparrow, Passer insularis
          + Iago Sparrow or Cape Verde Sparrow, Passer iagoensis
          + Cape Sparrow or Mossie, Passer melanurus
          + Grey-headed Sparrow, Passer griseus
          + Swainson's Sparrow, Passer swainsonii
          + Parrot-billed Sparrow, Passer gongonensis
          + Swaheli Sparrow, Passer suahelicus
          + Southern Grey-headed Sparrow, Passer diffusus
          + Desert Sparrow, Passer simplex
          + Tree Sparrow, Passer montanus
          + Sudan Golden Sparrow, Passer luteus
          + Arabian Golden Sparrow, Passer euchlorus
          + Chestnut Sparrow, Passer eminibey
          + Italian Sparrow, Passer italiae
          + Kenya Rufous Sparrow, Passer rufocinctus
          + Kordofan Rufous Sparrow, Passer cordofanicus
          + Shelley's Rufous Sparrow, Passer shelleyi
          + Asian Desert Sparrow, Passer zarudnyi
     * Petronia, the rock sparrows
          + Yellow-spotted Petronia, Petronia pyrgita
          + Chestnut-shouldered Petronia, Petronia xanthocollis
          + Yellow-throated Petronia, Petronia superciliaris
          + Bush Petronia, Petronia dentata
          + Rock Sparrow, Petronia petronia
     * Carpospiza, Pale Rockfinch
          + Pale Rockfinch, Carpospiza brachydactyla
     * Montifringilla, the snowfinches
          + White-winged Snowfinch, Montifringilla nivalis
          + Black-winged Snowfinch, Montifringilla adamsi
          + White-rumped Snowfinch, Montifringilla taczanowskii
          + Père David's Snowfinch, Montifringilla davidiana
          + Rufous-necked Snowfinch, Montifringilla ruficollis
          + Blanford's Snowfinch, Montifringilla blanfordi
          + Afghan Snowfinch, Montifringilla theresae
          + Tibetan Snowfinch, Montifringilla henrici

Sparrows in literature

   References to sparrows in literature usually refer to the House
   Sparrow.

   In Stephen King's novel, The Dark Half, unspecified sparrows play a
   major role. They are introduced as psychopomps, and harbingers of the
   undead, which help carry the dead back to the world of the living, and
   the living to the realm of the dead.

   Retrieved from " http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sparrow"
   This reference article is mainly selected from the English Wikipedia
   with only minor checks and changes (see www.wikipedia.org for details
   of authors and sources) and is available under the GNU Free
   Documentation License. See also our Disclaimer.
