---
title: "What the sources say about the House Sparrow | AnimalTracks.wiki"
description: "42 claims from the House Sparrow profile, each beside the words of the source that backs it."
image: "https://animaltracks.wiki/images/animals/house-sparrow-1.webp"
canonical: "https://animaltracks.wiki/animals/house-sparrow/sources/"
---

# What the sources say about the House Sparrow (*Passer domesticus*)

> 42 claims from the House Sparrow profile, each beside the words of the source that backs it. A "..." marks a cut in a quote and [brackets] an insertion.

Profile: [House Sparrow](https://animaltracks.wiki/animals/house-sparrow/)

## Passer domesticus. The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species 2021: e.T103818789A199147773.

https://doi.org/10.2305/iucn.uk.2021-3.rlts.t103818789a199147773.en

| The page says | The source says |
| :--- | :--- |
| Least Concern | IUCN Red List category: Least Concern (LC). |
| The IUCN Red List rates the species Least Concern. | IUCN Red List category: Least Concern (LC). |

## Passer domesticus, house sparrow. Animal Diversity Web, University of Michigan.

https://animaldiversity.org/accounts/Passer_domesticus/

| The page says | The source says |
| :--- | :--- |
| Farms, villages and towns; native to Eurasia and North Africa and introduced on other continents | It is native to Eurasia and North Africa. It was introduced into S. Africa, South America, Australia, New Zealand, and America. (note: stats.habitat; farms and residential/urban areas: House Sparrows like areas that have been modified by humans, including farms, residential, and urban areas.) |
| Seeds and grain, plus some insects | House Sparrows eat various kinds of seed supplemented by some insects. (note: stats.diet) |
| A group of 100 birds from England was released in Brooklyn, New York, in 1851 | Its introduction into North America occured in 1851, when a group of 100 birds from England was released in Brooklyn, New York. |
| Males have white cheeks and a black bib. Females do not. | Males have white cheeks and a black bib, while females do not. |
| The species is native to Eurasia and North Africa. | It is native to Eurasia and North Africa. |
| People have taken it to South Africa, South America, Australia, New Zealand and America. | It was introduced into S. Africa, South America, Australia, New Zealand, and America. |
| It likes places changed by people: farms, homes and cities. | House Sparrows like areas that have been modified by humans, including farms, residential, and urban areas. |
| It is absent from uninhabited woodlands, deserts, forests and grasslands. | They are absent from uninhabited woodlands, deserts, forests, and grasslands. |
| House sparrows eat many kinds of seed, plus some insects. | House Sparrows eat various kinds of seed supplemented by some insects. |
| Rural birds eat more waste seed from animal dung and fields. Urban birds eat more birdseed and weed seed. | Rural birds tend to eat more waste seed from animal dung and seed from fields, while urban birds tend to eat more commercial birdseed and weed seed. |
| They nest in crevices in and on buildings, and in trees. | House Sparrows nest in crevices inside and on buildings, and in coniferous and deciduous trees. |
| Both parents feed the chicks by regurgitation | both males and females feed the young through regurgitation. |
| Sparrows also defend a small territory around the nest site, and they have been seen threatening, and if necessary attacking, birds of 70 other species that come into it. | House Sparrows aggressively protect a small teritorry just around their nesting site. ... Sparrows have been observed to threaten, and if necessary, attack 70 species of birds that have come into their nesting territory. |
| Sparrows avoid predators by foraging in small flocks, so many eyes watch for predators such as hawks and owls. | Many hawks and owls hunt and feed on house sparrows. ... House sparrows avoid predation by foraging in small flocks so that there are many eyes watching out for potential predators. |
| No. It comes from Eurasia and North Africa. | It is native to Eurasia and North Africa. |
| The first birds in the United States were released in Brooklyn, New York, in 1851 | Its introduction into North America occured in 1851, when a group of 100 birds from England was released in Brooklyn, New York. |
| at first they were fed and shielded from predators | When first introduced into the United States in 1851, house sparrows were protected from predators and fed. |
| About 100 house sparrows released in Brooklyn in 1851 | Its introduction into North America occured in 1851, when a group of 100 birds from England was released in Brooklyn, New York. (note: vibe.reason animal clause, same source as the body claim "A group of 100 birds from England was released in Brooklyn, ") |

## House Sparrow, Passer domesticus. BirdFacts, British Trust for Ornithology.

https://www.bto.org/understanding-birds/birdfacts/house-sparrow

| The page says | The source says |
| :--- | :--- |
| Live adults weighed by BTO average 27.3 g | All adults 27.3±3.9 g (24.2-30.7 g, N=13060) (note: BTO biometrics are from live birds ringed in Britain & Ireland BTO: 'Wing length and body weights are from live birds'.) |
| 77.1 mm wings | All adults 77.1±2.4 mm (73-81 mm, N=15876) (note: wing length) |
| A typical clutch is four or five eggs | Clutch Size Typical number 4-5 eggs |
| laid in two or three broods a year in Britain | Typical (exceptional) number of broods 2-3(4) (note: BTO ringing and nest recording data are for Britain & Ireland) |
| A sparrow that reaches breeding age typically lives about 3 years | Typical life expectancy of bird reaching breeding age 3 years with breeding typically at 1 year |
| the oldest ringed bird on BTO's records reached 12 years and 12 days | Maximum age from a ringed bird 12 years, 12 days (set in 1978) |
| in the UK it has been on the national Red List of birds since 2002 | Now the species is in decline and has been on the UK Red List since 2002. |
| its numbers have fallen since the mid-1970s | The species has declined in the UK since the mid-1970s, with losses most notable in the south and east. |
| On farmland, tidier farmyards and more intensive farming left less winter seed, and fewer first-year birds survived. | On farmland, changes in farming practices due to intensification of agriculture and the tidying of farmyards have reduced the seed available to farmland populations of House Sparrows during winter, which has resulted in a reduction in survival rates ( Siriwardena et al. 1999 , Chamberlain et al. 2007 , Hole 2001 ), specifically of first-year birds |
| BTO puts the UK breeding population at about 5 million pairs, and it fell 18% between 1995 and 2024. | Breeding Winter Population Change 18% decrease 1995 to 2024 Population Size 5m pairs (note: BTO's breeding column is the first of the pair; the winter column reads No data; scope is the UK) |
| weightKg: 0.027 | All adults 27.3±3.9 g (note: #998; name guess put it Light) |

## Johnston & Selander (1964). House Sparrows: Rapid Evolution of Races in North America. Science.

https://doi.org/10.1126/science.144.3618.548

| The page says | The source says |
| :--- | :--- |
| A plain brown bird that developed regional differences in color and size in North America. | Conspicuous adaptive differentiation in color and size has occurred in the house sparrow (Passer domesticus) in North America and the Hawaiian Islands since its introduction in the middle of the 19th century. (note: tagline; 'within decades' from the 50-year line: Racial differentiation of house sparrow populations may require no more than 50 years.) |
| Evolving regional differences in color and size in new lands | Conspicuous adaptive differentiation in color and size has occurred in the house sparrow (Passer domesticus) in North America and the Hawaiian Islands since its introduction in the middle of the 19th century. (note: stats.superpower) |
| Since then North American sparrows have changed in color and size | Conspicuous adaptive differentiation in color and size has occurred in the house sparrow (Passer domesticus) in North America and the Hawaiian Islands since its introduction in the middle of the 19th century. |
| Since its introduction in the middle of the 19th century, the sparrow has shown clear adaptive differences in color and size in North America and Hawaii | Conspicuous adaptive differentiation in color and size has occurred in the house sparrow (Passer domesticus) in North America and the Hawaiian Islands since its introduction in the middle of the 19th century. |
| Its patterns of variation parallel those of native species that have several races | Patterns of geographic variation in North America parallel those shown by native polytypic species |
| Researchers wrote that racial differentiation may need no more than 50 years | Racial differentiation of house sparrow populations may require no more than 50 years. |
| left North American descendants that developed differences in color and size from place to place | Conspicuous adaptive differentiation in color and size has occurred in the house sparrow (Passer domesticus) in North America and the Hawaiian Islands since its introduction in the middle of the 19th century. (note: vibe.reason animal clause, same source as the body claim "A plain brown bird that developed regional differences in co") |

## Martin, Scheuerlein & Wikelski (2003). Immune activity elevates energy expenditure of house sparrows: a link between direct and indirect costs? Proceedings of the Royal Society of London. Series B: Biological Sciences.

https://doi.org/10.1098/rspb.2002.2185

| The page says | The source says |
| :--- | :--- |
| researchers switched on part of the immune system of house sparrows with an injection of a harmless stimulant, not a germ | experimental induction of the immune system with a non-pathological stimulant ... We injected phytohaemagglutinin (PHA), a commonly used mitogen that activates the cell-mediated immune response, into the wing web of house sparrows, Passer domesticus. |
| Their resting metabolic rate rose | We found that PHA injection significantly elevated resting metabolic rate (RMR) of challenged sparrows relative to saline controls. |
| of about 4.20 kJ a day, or 29% of resting metabolic rate | We calculated the total cost of this immune activity to be ca. 4.20 kJ per day (29% RMR) |
| That equals the cost of making half an egg. | which is equivalent to the cost of production of half of an egg (8.23 kJ egg(-1)) in this species |