Arguably, this badge is one of the factors that made this species a model in behavioral ecology ( Sánchez-Tójar et al., 2018). The most conspicuous morphological difference between male and female sparrows is the large black throat badge of males. Image Credits: All images taken by Janneke Case in Tampa, Florida, United States, in 2019. ( D) Male house sparrow provisioning nestlings. This topic remains contentious ( Box 1), but these declines have been attributed to a multitude of factors, including infectious disease, pollution, pesticide use, predator dynamics, new building methodologies and more efficient grain harvesting and storage ( Shaw et al., 2008 Summers-Smith, 2003 Singh et al., 2013 Bell et al., 2010 Dadam et al., 2019). Though still widespread, significant declines have been reported in the native range of the species since the 1970s. A reliance on humans is evident from their colonization of Northern Europe, Eastern Europe and Central Asia in the early 1800s, as agriculture spread and urbanization increased ( Summers-Smith, 1963). However, they also continue to increase their geographic range by exploiting ongoing and accelerating anthropogenic change ( Ravinet et al., 2018 Saetre et al., 2012). Becoming commensal some 10,000 years ago, house sparrows are now strongly associated with habitats that have been modified by humans. House sparrows are native to parts of Asia, North Africa and most of Europe, (with the exception of Italy which is occupied by the Italian sparrow P. Native distribution and natural range expansions Here, we explore the natural history of house sparrows and the contributions that these birds have made to basic biology and beyond. Their ubiquity and close association with humans have undoubtedly led to their detailed study across biological and even sociological disciplines. It is for this relationship with people that they received their species identifier domesticus, which derives from the Latin domus or 'house', from Carl Linnaeus in 1758 ( Jobling, 2009 Anderson, 2006). Considered anthrodependent, some populations have gone extinct locally without human presence ( Ravinet et al., 2018 Summers-Smith, 1988). House sparrows can be found living and breeding in climactically extreme environments from deserts in southern California to cities above the Arctic circle, where they are found almost exclusively in close proximity to human habitation ( Hanson et al., 2020b). The species is one of the most widely distributed and common birds in the world, represented by 12 different subspecies ( Summers-Smith, 2009). Some Palearctic populations are in sharp decline, possibly due to changing land-use patterns.House sparrows are small, sexually dimorphic birds in the family Passeridae. for western Canada and Alaska, outside current range. Year-round: cities, farms, and other human-transformed environments. Song: short series of pleasant chirp notes. Call: varied, but 3 notes are prevalent: throaty jigga, usually given by agitated birds soft chirv, often heard in flight honest-to-goodness chirp, given in various settings. A female orange bishop may be passed off as female house sparrow by observers unfamiliar with the former.Īll vocalizations simple. Flight more resembles the house finch than native sparrows. Males distinctive plainer females and juveniles present a combination of structural and plumage characters that separate them from native sparrows. The North American population (nominate ssp.) exhibits extensive geographic variation, with clinal variation: larger birds with shorter appendages in colder climes, darker plumages in more-humid environments. Bill more yellowish than male’s tip, culmen dusky. Buffy eye stripe gray-brown crown and auriculars. Bill black in summer yellowish base to lower mandible in winter. On freshly molted (nonbreeding) bird, the blackish and reddish regions obscured by gray feather tips. Adult male: worn (breeding) male contrastingly marked throat and breast black, postoccipital and nuchal regions chestnut, wings russet. One molt per year, but seasonal variation pronounced. Bill thick, conical legs short stocky build. Flight more direct, often higher, than native sparrows. It aggressively defends nest cavities, possibly to the detriment of native species. Introduced to New York City in 1851, the species today flourishes in both large cities and remote agricultural outposts-just so long as there is some trace of human influence. The cheery and sociable house sparrow is more closely associated with humans than any other widely established North American exotic.
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