House Sparrow: Identification Key and 7 Interesting Facts You May Not Know

Flying house sparrow on white background

We are all conversant with the chirpy house sparrows as they are seen everywhere, near your homes and other buildings. No other bird is as intimated with humans as these sociable house sparrows are and this association is their simple success formula. They are found in both urban areas and the rural locations. They are more active in winters and quite belligerent when it comes to defending their nests from other native species. The species found in Eurasia and North Africa are native sparrows and have been brought to so many other areas all over the world. The appearance of these most abundant songbirds is distinctive from the other North American native sparrows.

Size and Shape

These doughty Sparrows are brown in color with black smudges all over their back. With the buffy lower part, these sparrows appear to have shorter legs and thicker beaks when compared to the native species. They have buffy eye stripe drawn across the back of their neck and chestnut nuchal regions. Males can be distinguished from female sparrows as they have white cheeks and black badge and the size of males is also larger. 5 to the 6-inch long bird, has the wings with the length of 9 inches and weighs around 28.5 gram. Sometimes, people mix these house sparrow with other seed-eating birds.

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Song Sparrow: 7 Amazing Facts You Don’t Want to Miss

Song sparrow in full song while perched among cattails

The song sparrow, whose scientific name is Melospiza melodia, is a mediocre sized American sparrow. Among all other species of American sparrows, song sparrows are one of the most unpredictable, and adjustable species. The species can be seen everywhere in abundance. An average adult song sparrow contains back of dark brown color and underparts of white color. The upper parts of a body are streaked with dark colors, and there is a dark brown color mark in the middle of their chest. They also possess streaking on the side of their body. They have rounded brown colored head, but if you look at them carefully, then it appears to be a lovely combination of slate gray and reddish brown color. Their tail is brown, long and rounded, legs are pink, and the beak is small with a conical shape. The neck is whitish in color, with broad grayish eyebrows and strikes on a face. The baby song sparrow is duller in the shade, and the streakings are also present.

Among their different subspecies, song sparrow varies widely in size. Usually, their body length ranges from 4.3 to 7.1 inches, and the body mass ranges from 0.4 ounces to 1.87 ounces. On average, song sparrow possesses a lifespan of almost 11.3 years. Both genders of song sparrows look similar. Usually, song sparrows are confused with other variety of bird species dispersed in North America. Whenever, you see bird species with a streaked body, grayer tail, wandering in a wide, wet or shrubby region, and utters a smashing song, then it is none other than a song sparrow.

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Sparrows: 15 Interesting Facts about Sparrow & 8 Effective Control Measures

Sparrows on the mountain ash branch

Sparrow is a species of small Passerine birds, also acknowledged as True sparrows or Old world Sparrows. It originates from North Africa and is also found in Asia, Australia, Europe, New Zealand and North America. Sparrows cannot be found in forests or deserts, unlike other birds. It prefers being in close association to human settlement, including urban and rural areas. They inhabit on ideal sparrow habitat nesting on buildings, roofs, and houses.

Sparrows are brown-grey chubby birds. They have short tails with stubby and powerful beaks. These are effortless flying birds with small size and bodies. These creatures make their way to the air creating a splendid sight to see. Sparrows are considered to be extreme vocal birds of all times. The sizes of these birds vary according to the region they inhabit. Sparrows are similar to other seed-eating birds except they possess an extra bone in tongue and an outer primary feather. On the other hand, cheeky sparrows have a diverse range of colors varying from sandy blonde to a rich red color.

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White-throated Sparrow: 4 Identification Tips & Sounds and Calls

White Throated Sparrow on a branch in winter

The white-throated sparrow is biologically known as the Zonotrichia albicollis. It is considered as a little passerine Ave that is the member of the American sparrow family known as Emberizidae. The group name Zonotrichia Albiocollis is the combination of the Greek and Latin words. The initial part of the name has a Greek background “band,” and thrix, trikhos, meaning “hair.” The second half of the name is derived from the Latin word albus, meaning white, and Collum referring to “neck.” Thus the overall meaning is a small bird with white hair on the neck. They are forest dwellers and mostly live in the Canadian region. In winters they are also found in Eastern and Southern divisions of the North American continent and the California.

These tiny birds are appreciated for their walking style and the musical tones they generate while in the jungle. People see them rarely, so their identification might not be very easy for them.

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Chipping Sparrow: 9 Interesting Facts Help You Know Them Thoroughly

Chipping Sparrow

Chipping Sparrow, whose scientific name is Spizella passerina, is a species of American sparrows. It is a passerine bird who belongs to the family Emberizidae, and it is well known in the most parts of the world. But, the location where it can be found commonly is North America. Chipping Sparrow is fairly domestic by nature and contains almost five subspecies that depict geographic dissimilarity through their feathers’ color pattern and arrangements. Few subspecies of chipping sparrows migrate while others do not. Eastern subspecies of chipping sparrow is tiny and quite dark in color along with the bright colored rufous head. Whereas, the western subspecies of chipping sparrow include small stridula that has intermediary color with small body size. Here, we will discuss few interesting facts and description about chipping sparrows.

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