House Sparrow

Passer domesticus (Linnaeus, 1758)

16 cmLength23–24 cmWingspan26 gWeight

This sparrow lives alongside people, and the male has a gray head and black throat and breast.

Busiest months: May · Most records: United States, Canada, Spain

Looks like Eurasian Tree Sparrow, Spanish Sparrow

Least Concern

How to identify

Field marks

Male's crown gray with chestnut-brown sides
Male's throat and upper breast black
Male also black between eye and bill
Male's bill black in breeding season

Male, female and young

The female has no black patches on the head or throat, and the head is not gray; juveniles resemble the female but have darker brown underparts and a yellowish bill.

Voice

Mostly short, frequent twitters, transcribed as “chirrup”, “tschilp” or “philip”.

Similar species

Eurasian Tree Sparrow

Eurasian Tree Sparrow is slightly smaller, with a chestnut rather than gray head, two white feather markings on the wings and one black patch on each cheek; sexes are almost alike.

Spanish Sparrow

Male Spanish Sparrow is distinguished by its chestnut crown; male House Sparrow has a gray crown. Females are almost impossible to separate.

Where and when it's recorded

Busiest months: May · Most records: United States, Canada, Spain

House Sparrow has been recorded at 4,712 of the 8,276 birding hotspots we track, in 191 countries and regions.

Records by month Northern Hemisphere

Where it's recorded most

Montrose Point Bird Sanctuary, Lincoln Park, ChicagoUnited States39,816 records
Central ParkUnited States38,410 records
Prospect ParkUnited States36,654 records

More places

Riparian Preserve at Gilbert Water RanchUnited States22,222 records
Estero Llano Grande SP WBCUnited States21,395 records
Central Park – The RambleUnited States18,163 records
Reifel Bird SanctuaryCanada17,402 records
Toronto – Colonel Samuel Smith ParkCanada13,209 records
Horn Pond Recreation AreaUnited States12,242 records
Toronto – High ParkCanada12,014 records

Countries and regions with the most records

United States Canada Spain United Kingdom Portugal India Australia Israel

eBird records via GBIF up to 2024-12-31. A record means someone listed it; more records partly mean more birders, not more birds.

About

The house sparrow (Passer domesticus) is a bird of the sparrow family Passeridae, found in most parts of the world. It is a small bird that 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.

Excerpt from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0 · authors · Read more on Wikipedia

Questions

How big is the House Sparrow?

The House Sparrow is about 16 cm long, with a wingspan of 23–24 cm and weighs around 26 g.

Where does the House Sparrow live?

Its breeding range: Palearctic, Oriental, Africa: mainly subarctic to subtropical Palearctic and Oriental region in anthropogenic habitats: Faroe and British Isles, northern Scandinavia east through subarctic Russia to Kamchatka; in south through Iberian Peninsula, northern Africa including Nile Valley, northern Eritrea, Arabian Peninsula, India and Sri Lanka, through northern, central Southeast Asia; introduced nearly worldwide. It is most often recorded in United States, Canada and Spain.

When is the best time to see the House Sparrow?

At the hotspots we track, it is recorded most in May (Northern Hemisphere).

Is the House Sparrow endangered?

The IUCN Red List classifies the House Sparrow as Least Concern.

What does the House Sparrow eat?

Main food: Seeds.

What family is the House Sparrow in?

It belongs to the family Old World Sparrows, Snowfinches (Passeridae), order Passerines (Passeriformes).

At a glance

Length: 16 cm
Wingspan: 23–24 cm
Weight: 26 g
Habitat: Towns & farmland
Diet: Seeds
Lifestyle: Active on the ground
Migration: Resident (barely migrates)
Conservation: Least Concern

More measurements

Wing: 75 mm
Tail: 57 mm
Bill: 14 mm
Tarsus: 18 mm

Averages from the AVONET dataset; length from field guides where available.

Range

Palearctic, Oriental, Africa: mainly subarctic to subtropical Palearctic and Oriental region in anthropogenic habitats: Faroe and British Isles, northern Scandinavia east through subarctic Russia to Kamchatka; in south through Iberian Peninsula, northern Africa including Nile Valley, northern Eritrea, Arabian Peninsula, India and Sri Lanka, through northern, central Southeast Asia; introduced nearly worldwide

Breeding range, IOC World Bird List 15.2

Subspecies · 1