The house sparrow is a small but noisy bird that loves spending time with other sparrows whilst eating, drinking and even nesting. For them safety in numbers is one of the most important thing that a young sparrow will ever learn.
Size
An average house sparrow would grow to around 16cm long, weighing 24-38 grams, with a wingspan of 21-25.5cm wide. This makes it’s wings longer than it’s actual body length. They are normally easy to identify because they are one of the smallest birds you will see in your garden.
Location
Because of the house sparrows ability to adapt to urban life it has spread through a lot of the globe. It has became a common garden bird in central Asia going through all the way to nearly all of Europe and Northern Africa. But has been introduced to Australia and North America.
Population
The house sparrow is an extremely common bird in it’s distribution. Which is why they have population of 1.6 billion individuals worldwide. The house sparrow has the largest population of any bird on earth along with the European starling, ring billed gull, and the barn swallow. Together they make up 10% of the world population of birds and the so called ‘billion club’.
Family Group
The house sparrow belongs to the family passeridae otherwise known as the old world sparrows or the true sparrows. Some of the other members include snow finches, rock finches, the cinnamon ibon, and 33 other species. The biggest genus in this family is passer which has 28 species in it.
Diet
They need to have a very varied diet because of the differ of habitats they are found in. Many eat seeds, aphids, and caterpillars but will also feed on berries, nuts, and fresh flower buds. They will try to find a farm to live on because of the instant amount of food that the farm is growing or storing.
Predators
It is very surprising that house sparrows do not have many major predators for their size but their main predator is the domestic cat. If the cats are not around then owls (mainly tawny’s) and sparrow hawks will happily take down a house sparrow if they were hungry.
Fun Facts
Their adaptability has naturally been put to the test when some house sparrows ventured into a mine nearly 2,000 feet underground. They were found living, breeding, and even thriving down their. They have also been recorded to live their entire life in a huge shopping warehouse.
