True sparrows, the Old World sparrows in the family Passeridae, are small passerine birds. As eight or more species nest in or near buildings, and the House Sparrow and Eurasian Tree Sparrow in particular inhabit cities in large numbers, sparrows may be the most familiar of all wild birds. [1]

Characteristics and classification

Generally, sparrows tend to be small, plump brown-grey birds with short tails and stubby, powerful beaks. The differences between sparrow species can be subtle. They are primarily seed-eaters, though they also consume small insects. A few species scavenge for food around cities and, like gulls or pigeons, will happily eat virtually anything in small quantities. Members of this family range in size from the Chestnut Sparrow (Passer eminibey), at 11.4 cm (4.5 inches) and 13.4 g, to the Parrot-billed Sparrow (Passer gongonensis), at 18 cm (7 inches) and 42 g (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]

The Old World true sparrows are indigenous to Europe, Africa and Asia. In Australia and the Americas, early settlers imported some species which quickly naturalised, particularly in urban and degraded areas. House Sparrows, for example, are now found throughout North America, in every state of Australia except Western Australia, and over much of the heavily populated parts of South America.

Some authorities previously classified the related estrildid finches of the Old World tropics and Australasia as members of the Passeridae. [3] Like the true 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. There are about 140 species. The 2008 Christidis and Boles taxonomic scheme lists the estrildid finches as the separate family Estrildidae, leaving just the true sparrows in Passeridae. [3]

American sparrows, or New World sparrows, are in a different family, Emberizidae, despite some physical resemblance such as the seed-eater's bill and frequently well-marked heads.

The Hedge Sparrow or Dunnock (Prunella modularis) is similarly unrelated. It is a sparrow in name only, a relic of the old practice of calling any small bird a "sparrow".

Species

This is a list of sparrow species:

* Passer, the true sparrows * Saxaul Sparrow, Passer ammodendri
* House Sparrow, Passer domesticus
* Italian Sparrow, Passer (italiae) italiae
* Spanish Sparrow, Passer (italiae) 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 * 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
* Père David's Snowfinch, Montifringilla davidiana
* Rufous-necked Snowfinch, Montifringilla ruficollis
* Blanford's Snowfinch, Montifringilla blanfordi
* Afghan Snowfinch, Montifringilla theresae

Cultural references

Literary

Old World sparrows in literature are usually House Sparrows. [citation needed]

* In the Gospel of Mary, Anna, Mary's mother, sees a sparrow before she laments to God.
* The Greek poet Sappho, in her "Hymn to Aphrodite", pictures the goddess's chariot as drawn by sparrows.
* The Roman poet Catullus addresses one of his odes to his lover Lesbia's pet sparrow (‘Passer, deliciae meae puellae...’), and writes an elegy on its death (‘Lugete, o Veneres Cupidinesque...’).
* In the New Testament, Jesus reassures his followers that not even a sparrow can fall without God's notice, and that their own more significant suffering is certainly seen and potentially forestalled or redeemed by God (Luke 12:6; Matthew 10:29). This passage is referenced in the hymn "His Eye Is on the Sparrow".
* In the poem "An Essay on Man" by Alexander Pope, the New Testament passage is similarly referenced: Who sees with equal eye, as God of all, / A hero perish, or a sparrow fall
* The Venerable Bede's (8th c.)"sparrow in the hall" episode describes the moment of transition between Anglo-Saxon pagan and Christian eras. Ecclesiastical History of the English Church And People.
* In Phyllyp Sparowe (pub. c. 1505), by the English poet John Skelton, Jane Scrope's laments for her dead sparrow are mixed with antiphonal Latin liturgy from the Office of the Dead.
* In Hamlet, by William Shakespeare, as Hamlet faces his tragic fate, he says, "There's a special providence in the fall of a sparrow". This presumably refers to the New Testament quotation shown above.
* In the Daphne du Maurier short story "The Birds", sparrows are one of the small birds that attacked the children in their beds.
* In the Redwall series of fantasy novels, sparrows are portrayed as fierce fighters; the main sparrow character is Warbeak.
* In The Dark Half by Stephen King, sparrows are the bringers of the living dead.
* Sparrows are also mentioned in the poem "The Trees are Down" by Charlotte Mew: "They must have heard the sparrows flying".

See also

* Great sparrow campaign

References

* ^ 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.
* ^ Bledsoe, A.H. & Payne, R.B. (1991). Forshaw, Joseph. ed. Encyclopaedia of Animals: Birds. London: Merehurst Press. pp. 222. ISBN 1-85391-186-0.
* ^ a b Christidis L, Boles WE (2008). Systematics and Taxonomy of Australian Birds. Canberra: CSIRO Publishing. pp. 177. ISBN 9780643065116.

Further reading

* Clement, Harris and Davis, Finches and Sparrows ISBN 0-7136-8017-2 (hardcover) ISBN 0-7136-5203-9 (paperback)

External links

* Internet Bird Collection