House Sparrow

Factual Description:-

Common Name:- House Sparrow

Scientific Name:- Passer domesticus

Description:-

The House Sparrow belongs to the Passeridae family. Almost found every part of the world. House sparrow are very much associated with human habitations, and can live in urban or rural environment. House sparrow has a wide range range of habitats, but it typically avoids extensive woodlands, grasslands and deserts which are away from human development. Since sparrows are in association to human settlements, the sparrow is culturally prominent. But in recent era, the house sparrow population is decreasing drastically from urban areas and due to that the IUCN status of house sparrow is "Least Concern" and it is on the IUCN Red List. 

Size & Shape

The House Sparrow is typically about 16 cm long, ranging from 14 to 18 cm. It is a compact bird with a full chest and a large rounded head. Its bill is stout and conical bill with a culmen length of 1.1-1.5 cm strongly built as an adaptation for eating seeds. It's tail is short, at about 5.2-6.5 cm long. 

In weight, the house sparrow ranges from 24-39.5 gm. Females usually are slightly smaller than males. 

Color Pattern

Male house sparrows are brightly colored birds with grey heads, white cheeks, a black bib, and rufous neck. Females are a plain buffy-brown underparts. Their backs are noticeably striped with buff, black, and brown. 

Habitat

House sparrows have lived around humans for centuries. They are in close association to humans and that is the reason, they can be easily found in city streets, parks, cheeping from a perch on your roof or trees at your nearby. Sparrows are absent in from undisturbed forests and grasslands, but they are common in countryside around farmsteads. 

Behaviour

The House Sparrow is a very social bird. It is gregarious at all seasons when feeding, often forming flocks with other types of bird. It roosts communally, and its nests are usually grouped together in clumps, and it engages in social activities such as dust and water bathing, and social-singing, in which birds call together in bushes. The house sparrow feeds mostly on the ground, but it flocks in trees and bushes. At feeding stations and nests, female house sparrows are dominant despite their smaller size. 

House sparrows are noisy sparrows that flutter down from eaves and fencerows to hop and peck at crumbs or birdseed. Usually found flying in and out of nest holes hidden behind shop signs or in traffic lights, or hanging around parking lots waiting for crumbs and picking insects off car grills. 

Feeding

As an adult, the House Sparrow mostly feeds on the seeds of grains and weeds, but it is opportunistic and adaptable, and eats whatever foods are available. It's diet chiefly includes insects- beetles, caterpillars, dipteran flies, aphids. In most places, grasshoppers and crickets are the most abundant foods of nestlings. 

Locomotion

The House Sparrow's flight is direct and flapping, averaging 45. kms per hour and about 15 wingbeats per second. On the ground, the bird usually hops rather than walking. 

Breeding

House Sparrow can breed in the breeding season immediately following their hatching, and sometimes attempt to do so. Birds breeding for the first time are rarely successful in raising young, and reproductive success increases with age, as older birds breed earlier in the breeding season, and fledge more young. 

Voice 

Cheep or Chirrup

Predation

House Sparrows are very sensitive to their predators. Main predators are cats and birds of prey. 

References:-

http://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/house_sparrow

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/House_Sparrow