# House Sparrow

*Passer domesticus*

House Sparrows perform communal 'dust baths,' hollowing out small pits in dry soil to scrub parasites from their plumage.

- **Taxonomy:** Animalia › Chordata › Aves › Passeriformes › Passeridae › Passer
- **IUCN Red List status:** Least Concern
- **Population trend:** decreasing
- **Biome:** urban
- **Habitat:** Urban centers, suburban gardens, and agricultural lands.
- **Diet:** Opportunistic: primarily seeds and grains, but also insects, fruit, and discarded human food scraps.
- **Range:** Europe, North America, South America, Asia, Africa, Australia
- **Size:** 14-18 cm length; 25-40 g weight
- **Lifespan:** 3-5 years
- **Active:** diurnal
- **Threats:** Modern building designs reducing nesting cavities, intensive farming, and decline in insect populations.
- **Safe to approach?:** Harmless and highly social. Observe from a distance to watch their complex social hierarchies. Avoid feeding bread, which lacks nutrients; opt for high-quality birdseed or suet. If an injured bird is found, place it in a ventilated box and contact a local wildlife rehabilitator.

## About

The house sparrow ( Passer domesticus ) is a bird of the sparrow family Passeridae, found in most parts of the world. A small bird, it has a typical length of 16 cm (6.3 in) and a mass of 24–39.5 g (0.85–1.39 oz). Females and young birds are coloured pale brown and grey, and males have brighter black, white, and brown markings. One of about 25 species in the genus Passer , the house sparrow is native to most of Europe, the Mediterranean Basin,...

## Sources

- Plate: https://gaia-dex.com/species/c0753bf5-ee7b-4ca6-b5c2-7e22eb823778
- iNaturalist: https://www.inaturalist.org/taxa/13858
- Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Passer domesticus
- Conservation status: IUCN Red List category, as recorded by Gaia-Dex
- Photo: https://inaturalist-open-data.s3.amazonaws.com/photos/136543105/medium.jpeg (Esteban Poveda, CC-BY, via iNaturalist)

Habitat, diet, size and similar notes are AI-written summaries; check them against the linked sources before relying on them.