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House sparrow
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house sparrow
Listen: The song of the house sparrow
A House Sparrow (Passer domesticus) with brown, black, and gray plumage is perched on a lichen-covered twig against a soft green background. Hear the songs of many different birds. Sparrow Male house sparrow (Passer domesticus) with brown, gray, and black markings perched on a rough branch against a blurred green background.
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Also called:
English sparrow
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sparrow
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house sparrow
house sparrow House sparrow (Passer domesticus).

House sparrow

bird
Also known as: English sparrow, Passer domesticus
Written and fact-checked by
Britannica Editors
Encyclopaedia Britannica's editors oversee subject areas in which they have extensive knowledge, whether from years of experience gained by working on that content or via study for an advanced degree....
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ā€¢History
Listen: The song of the house sparrow
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Listen: The song of the house sparrowThe house sparrow, or Passer domesticus, is native to Eurasia and North Africa and common in North America and parts of South America.
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A House Sparrow (Passer domesticus) with brown, black, and gray plumage is perched on a lichen-covered twig against a soft green background.
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introduced speciesHouse sparrow (Passer domesticus).

House sparrow, (Passer domesticus), one of the worldā€™s best-known and most abundant small birds, sometimes classified in the family Passeridae (order Passeriformes). It lives in towns and on farms, worldwide, having accompanied Europeans from its original homeā€”most of Eurasia and northern Africa. It was introduced into North America at Brooklyn, N.Y., in 1852 and within a century had spread across the continent. It is a 14-cm (5.5-inch) buffy-brown bird with a black bib (male only). House sparrows breed nearly year-round in warm regions. The nest, containing four to nine eggs, is an untidy bundle of straw and feathersā€”usually quite dirtyā€”placed in house eaves. Both birds of the pair take part in building the nest. Formerly, large sparrow populations were supported by waste grain from the feed of horses, and the number of sparrows in urban areas declined as horses were replaced by automobiles.

The Editors of Encyclopaedia BritannicaThis article was most recently revised and updated by Rick Livingston.