The House Sparrow is an introduced bird found in many U.S. towns, especially around buildings and farms. Males have a gray crown and black bib; females are mostly plain brown.
Appearance
- Appearance
- A stocky bird about 5.9–6.7 in (15–17 cm) long. Males have a gray crown and black bib; females have a pale eyebrow and streaked brown back.
Look-alikes
Look for a black spot in each white cheek and a chestnut crown on the Eurasian Tree Sparrow (Passer montanus). A male House Sparrow has a gray crown and no isolated black cheek spot.
Why they get mixed upBoth are stocky Old World sparrows that visit settled areas.
Female House Finches (Haemorhous mexicanus) have dark streaks across the chest and belly. Female House Sparrows have a plainer underside and a broad pale eyebrow.
Why they get mixed upThe brown females of both species visit yards and feeders.
Where it lives
- Typical habitats
- Cities and suburbs
- Farmyards
- Range
- Introduced in Brooklyn, New York, in 1851, it spread across most of the contiguous United States. It stays close to people and is scarce in large unbroken forests.
- When it’s recorded
Recorded year-round, every year · most records in Apr
122,882 observations in the US · 10 years · for reference
Behavior
- Diet
- It eats grains and seeds, plus insects in summer; adults feed insects to their young.
- Social life
- These sparrows often feed in noisy groups on the ground.
Life cycle
- Nest
- Pairs pack dry grasses into holes in buildings, streetlights, or nest boxes. It can take nest holes used by native birds.
- Clutch size
- 1–8 eggs
- Incubation
- 10–14 days
Conservation
- IUCN Red List
- LCLeast ConcernLow risk of extinction