Sparrow

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

For other uses, see Sparrow (disambiguation).

Sparrow

A male house sparrow

Scientific classification
Kingdom:

Animalia

Phylum:

Chordata

Class:

Aves

Order:

Passeriformes

Suborder:

Passeri

Infraorder:

Passerida

Superfamily:

Passeroidea

Family:

Passeridae
Illiger, 1811

Genera
Passer
Petronia
Carpospiza

Hypocryptadius
Montifringilla
Sparrows are a family of small passerine birds, Passeridae. They are also known
as true sparrows, or Old World sparrows, names also used for a particular genus of
the family, Passer.[1] They are distinct from both the American sparrows, in the
family Emberizidae, and from a few other birds sharing their name, such as the Java
sparrow of the family Estrildidae. Many species nest on buildings, and
the house and Eurasian tree sparrows in particular inhabit cities in large numbers, so
sparrows are among the most familiar of all wild birds. They are primarily seed-eaters,
though they also consume small insects. Some species scavenge for food around cities
and, like gulls or rock doves, will happily eat virtually anything in small quantities.
Contents
[hide]

1Description

2Taxonomy and systematics

o

Description[edit]

Male house sparrow

2.1Species

3Distribution and habitat

4Behaviour and ecology

5Relationships with humans

6References

7External links

Yellow-throated sparrow at Keoladeo National Park, India

Generally, sparrows are small, plump, brown-grey birds with short tails and stubby,
powerful beaks. The differences between sparrow species can be subtle. Members of
this family range in size from the chestnut sparrow (Passer eminibey), at 11.4
centimetres (4.5 in) and 13.4 grams (0.47 oz), to the parrot-billed sparrow (Passer
gongonensis), at 18 centimetres (7.1 in) and 42 grams (1.5 oz). Sparrows are physically
similar to other seed-eating birds, such as finches, but have a vestigial dorsal
outer primary feather and an extra bone in the tongue.[2][3] This bone, the preglossale,
helps stiffen the tongue when holding seeds. Other adaptations towards eating seeds are
specialised bills and elongated and specialised alimentary canals.[4]

Taxonomy and systematics[edit]

A sparrow chick

Painting of black-winged snowfinches

Under the classification used in the Handbook of the Birds of the World (HBW) main
groupings of the sparrows are the true sparrows (genus Passer),
the snowfinches (typically one genus, Montifringilla), and the rock sparrows (Petronia and
the pale rockfinch). These groups are similar to each other, and are each fairly
homogeneous, especially Passer.[4] Some classifications also include the sparrowweavers (Plocepasser) and several other African genera (otherwise classified among
the weavers, Ploceidae)[4] which are morphologically similar to Passer.[5] According to a
study of molecular and skeletal evidence by Jon Fjelds and colleagues, the cinnamon
ibon of the Philippines, previously considered to be a white-eye, is a sister taxon to the
sparrows as defined by the HBW. They therefore classify it as its own subfamily within
Passeridae.[5]

Many early classifications of the sparrows placed them as close relatives of the weavers
among the various families of small seed-eating birds, based on the similarity of their
breeding behaviour, bill structure, and moult, among other characters. Some, starting
with P. P. Suskin in the 1920s, placed the sparrows in the weaver family as the subfamily
Passerinae, and tied them to Plocepasser. Another family sparrows were classed with
was the finches (Fringillidae).[4]
Some authorities previously classified the related estrildid finches of the Old
World tropics and Australasia as members of the Passeridae. Like 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. The 2008 Christidis and Boles taxonomic scheme lists the
estrildid finches as the separate family Estrildidae, leaving just the true sparrows [clarification
needed]
in Passeridae.[6]
Despite some resemblance such as the seed-eater's bill and frequently well-marked
heads, American sparrows, or New World sparrows, are members of a different
family, Emberizidae, which also includes the buntings.[4] The hedge sparrow or dunnock
(Prunella modularis) is similarly unrelated. It is a sparrow in name only, a relict of the old
practice of calling more types of small birds "sparrows".[7] A few further bird species are
also called sparrows, such as the Java sparrow, an estrildid finch.
According to Luis Allende and colleagues, sparrows seem to have a parental species
(Petronia petronia). They are not closely related to American sparrows or finches.[8][9]

Species[edit]

Sparrow Hyderabad

This is a list of sparrow species:[4][5][10]

Hypocryptadius

Cinnamon ibon

Passeridae, the true sparrows

Saxaul sparrow, Passer ammodendri'

House sparrow, Passer domesticus

Italian sparrow, Passer italiae

Spanish sparrow, Passer hispaniolensis

Sind sparrow, Passer pyrrhonotus

Somali sparrow, Passer castanopterus

Russet sparrow, Passer rutilans

Plain-backed sparrow, Passer flaveolus

Dead Sea sparrow, Passer moabiticus

Iago sparrow, Passer iagoensis

Great sparrow, Passer motitensis

Kenya sparrow, Passer rufocinctus

Kordofan sparrow, Passer cordofanicus

Shelley's sparrow, Passer shelleyi

Socotra sparrow, Passer insularis

Abd al-Kuri sparrow, Passer hemileucus

Cape sparrow, Passer melanurus

Northern grey-headed sparrow, Passer griseus

Swainson's sparrow, Passer swainsonii

Parrot-billed sparrow, Passer gongonensis

Swahili sparrow, Passer suahelicus

Southern grey-headed sparrow, Passer diffusus

Desert sparrow, Passer simplex

Eurasian tree sparrow, Passer montanus

Sudan golden sparrow, Passer luteus

Arabian golden sparrow, Passer euchlorus

Chestnut sparrow, Passer eminibey

Petronia, the petronias or rock sparrows

Yellow-spotted petronia, Petronia pyrgita

Yellow-throated sparrow, Petronia xanthocollis

Yellow-throated petronia, Petronia superciliaris

Bush petronia, Petronia dentata

Rock sparrow, Petronia petronia

Carpospiza

Pale rockfinch, Carpospiza brachydactyla

Montifringilla, the snowfinches

White-winged snowfinch, Montifringilla nivalis

Black-winged snowfinch, Montifringilla adamsi

White-rumped snowfinch, Montifringilla taczanowskii

Pre David's snowfinch, Montifringilla davidiana

Rufous-necked snowfinch, Montifringilla ruficollis

Plain-backed snowfinch, Montifringilla blanfordi

Afghan snowfinch, Montifringilla theresae

Distribution and habitat[edit]

A male Dead Sea sparrow in southeastern Turkey

The sparrows are indigenous to Europe, Africa and Asia. In the Americas, Australia, and
other parts of the world, settlers imported some species which quickly naturalised,
particularly in urban and degraded areas. House sparrows, for example, are now found
throughout North America, Australia (every state except Western Australia), parts of
southern and eastern Africa, and over much of the heavily populated parts of South
America.[4]
The sparrows are generally birds of open habitats, including grasslands, deserts,
and scrubland. The snowfinches and ground-sparrows are all species of high latitudes. A
few species, like the Eurasian tree sparrow, inhabit open woodland.[4] The
aberrant cinnamon ibon has the most unusual habitat of the family, inhabiting the canopy
of cloud forest in the Philippines.[5]

Behaviour and ecology[edit]

Sudan golden sparrows, seen here on the Red Sea coast of Sudan, are highly gregarious outside
of the breeding season.

Sparrows are generally social birds, with many species breeding in loose colonies and
most species occurring in flocks during the non-breeding season. The great sparrow is
an exception, breeding in solitary pairs and remaining only in small family groups in the
non-breeding season. Most sparrows form large roosting aggregations in the nonbreeding seasons that contain only a single species (in contrast to multi-species flocks
that might gather for foraging). Sites are chosen for cover and include trees, thick bushes
and reed beds. The assemblages can be quite large with up to 10,000 house sparrows
counted in one roost in Egypt.[4]

Sparrows water bathing near Black Sea in Batumi, Georgia

The sparrows are some of the few passerine birds that engage in dust bathing. Sparrows
will first scratch a hole in the ground with their feet, then lie in it and fling dirt or sand over
their bodies with flicks of their wings. They will also bathe in water, or in dry or melting
snow. Water bathing is similar to dust bathing, with the sparrow standing in shallow water
and flicking water over its back with its wings, also ducking its head under the water. Both
activities are social, with up to a hundred birds participating at once, and is followed by
preening and sometimes group singing.[4]

Relationships with humans[edit]

Sparrows may be the most familiar of all wild birds worldwide. [11] Many sparrow species
commonly live in agricultural areas, and for several, human settlements are a primary
habitat. The Eurasian tree and house sparrows are particularly specialised in living
around humans and inhabit cities in large numbers. 17 of the 26 species recognised by
the Handbook of the Birds of the World are known to nest on and feed around buildings.[4]
Grain-eating species, in particular the house and Sudan golden sparrows, can be
significant agricultural pests. Sparrows can be beneficial to humans as well, especially by
eating insect pests. Attempts at the large-scale control of sparrows have failed to affect
sparrow populations significantly, or have been accompanied by major increases in

insect attacks probably resulting from a reduction of sparrows, as in the Great Sparrow
Campaign in 1950s China.[4]
Because of their familiarity, the house sparrow and other sparrows are frequently used to
represent the common and vulgar, or the lewd.[12] Birds usually described later as
sparrows are referred to in many works of ancient literature and religious texts in Europe
and western Asia. These references may not always refer specifically to sparrows, or
even to small, seed-eating birds, but later writers who were inspired by these texts often
had the house sparrow and other members of the family in mind. In particular, sparrows
were associated by the ancient Greeks with Aphrodite, the goddess of love, due to their
perceived lustfulness, an association echoed by later writers such
as Chaucer and Shakespeare.[4][12][13]
Jesus's use of "sparrows" as an example of divine providence in the Gospel of
Matthew[14] also inspired later references, such as that in Shakespeare's Hamlet[12] and
the Gospel hymn His Eye Is on the Sparrow.[15] Sparrows are represented in ancient
Egyptian art very rarely, but an Egyptian hieroglyph is based on the house sparrow:

. The symbol had no phonetic value and was used as a determinative in words to
indicate small, narrow, or bad.[16]
Sparrows have been kept as pets at many times in history, even though they are not
colourful and their songs are unremarkable. They are also difficult to keep, as pet
sparrows must be raised by hand as nestlings, when considerable supplies of insects are
required to feed them. Nevertheless, many are successful in hand raising orphaned or
abandoned baby sparrows. Various internet forums are providing useful information on
how to hand raise an injured or orphaned baby sparrow.[17] The earliest mentions of pet
sparrows are from the Romans. Not all the passeri mentioned, often as pets, in Roman
literature were necessarily sparrows, but some accounts of them clearly describe their
appearance and habits.[18] The pet passer of Lesbia in Catullus's poems may not have
been a sparrow, but a thrush or European goldfinch. John Skelton's The Boke of Phyllyp
Sparowe is a lament for a pet house sparrow belonging to a Jane Scrope, narrated by
Scrope.[4][12][18][19]

References[edit]
1.

Jump up^ Summers-Smith 2005, p. 17

2.

Jump up^ Bledsoe, A. H.; Payne, R. B. (1991). Forshaw,

Joseph, ed. Encyclopaedia of Animals: Birds. London:
Merehurst Press. p. 222. ISBN 1-85391-186-0.

3.

Jump up^ Clement, Peter; Harris, Alan; Davis, John

(1993). Finches and Sparrows: an Identification Guide.
Princeton, New Jersey: Princeton University
Press. ISBN 0-691-03424-9.

4.

^ Jump up to:a b c d e f g h i j k l m n Summers-Smith, J. Denis

(2009). "Family Passeridae (Old World Sparrows)". In del
Hoyo, Josep; Elliott, Andrew; Christie, David. Handbook
of the Birds of the World. Volume 14: Bush-shrikes to Old
World Sparrows. Barcelona: Lynx Edicions. ISBN 978-8496553-50-7.

5.

^ Jump up to:a b c d Fjelds, J.; Irestedt, M.; Ericson, P. G.

P.; Zuccon, D. (2010). "The Cinnamon
Ibon Hypocryptadius cinnamomeus is a forest canopy

sparrow" (PDF). Ibis. 152 (4): 747760. doi:10.1111/j.1474919X.2010.01053.x.

6.

Jump up^ Christidis & Boles 2008, p. 177

7.

Jump up^ Summers-Smith 1988, p. 13

8.

Jump up^ Allende, Luis M.; et al. (2001). "The Old World
sparrows (genus Passer) phylogeography and their
relative abundance of nuclear mtDNA
pseudogenes" (PDF). Journal of Molecular
Evolution. 53 (2): 144154. PMID 11479685. Archived
from the original (PDF) on 21 July 2011.

9.

Jump up^ Arnaiz-Villena, Antonio; Gmez-Prieto, Pablo;

Ruiz-de-Valle, Valentin (2009). "Phylogeography of
finches and sparrows". Nova Science Publishers.

10. Jump up^ BirdLife International (2010). "Species

factsheet: Passer hemileucus". Archived from the
original on 21 September 2011. Retrieved 24 June 2010.
11. Jump up^ Clement, Peter; Colston, P. R. (2003).
"Sparrows and Snowfinches". In Perrins, Christopher. The
Firefly Encyclopedia of Birds. Firefly Books. pp. 590
591. ISBN 1-55297-777-3.
12. ^ Jump up to:a b c d Summers-Smith 1963, pp. 49, 215
13. Jump up^ Shipley, A. E. (1899). "Sparrow". In Cheyne,
Thomas Kelley; Black, J. Sutherland. Encyclopaedia
Biblica. 4.
14. Jump up^ Matthew 10:29-31
15. Jump up^ Todd 2012, pp. 5658
16. Jump up^ Houlihan & Goodman 1986, pp. 136137
17. Jump up^ http://www.starlingtalk.com
18. ^ Jump up to:a b Summers-Smith 2005, pp. 2935
19. Jump up^ Ferber, Michael (2007). "Sparrow". A
Dictionary of Literary Symbols. Cambridge University
Press.

Works cited

Christidis, L.; Boles, W. E. (2008). Systematics and Taxonomy

of Australian Birds. Canberra: CSIRO Publishing. ISBN 978-0643-06511-6.

Houlihan, Patrick E.; Goodman, Steven M. (1986). The

Natural History of Egypt, Volume I: The Birds of Ancient Egypt.
Warminster: Aris & Philips. ISBN 0-85668-283-7.

Summers-Smith, J. Denis (1963). The House Sparrow. New

Naturalist (1st. ed.). London: Collins.

Summers-Smith, J. Denis (1988). The Sparrows. illustrated by

Robert Gillmor. Calton, Staffs, England: T. & A. D.
Poyser. ISBN 0-85661-048-8.

Summers-Smith, J. Denis (2005). On Sparrows and Man: A

Love-Hate Relationship. Guisborough. ISBN 0-9525383-2-6.

Todd, Kim (2012). Sparrow. Animal. Reaktion

Books. ISBN 978-1-86189-875-3.

External links[edit]
Look up sparrow in
Wiktionary, the free
dictionary.
Wikimedia Commons has
media related to Passeridae.
Wikisource has the text of
the 1911 Encyclopdia
Britannica article Sparrow.

Passeridae at the Internet Bird Collection

[show]

Sparrows (family: Passeridae)

[show]

Birds in culture
Categories:

Passeridae

Birds by common name

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