House Sparrow

Passer domesticus

Latin name

Passer domesticus

Family

Sparrows (Passeridae)

Distribution/habitat

Found from the centre of cities to the farmland of the countryside, It is absent from parts of the Scottish Highlands and is thinly distributed in most upland areas. You won’t find them in extensive woodlands, forests, or grasslands. In extreme environments such as deserts or the far north, House Sparrows survive only in the immediate vicinity of people.

When to see them

All year round.

Average size

14 – 18 cm (5.5 - 7in) Adult

Life-span

Average - 3 years

Oldest known - 15 years

Food

Seeds and scraps

People have a love-hate relationship with the house sparrow. For many they are the most familiar of wild animals, bringing life to city centres and other man-made places, bereft of wildlife.

The house sparrows partiality to grain crops and the damage and destruction this caused resulted in attempts to control their numbers. From the mid-18th century most parishes had sparrow clubs with the sole objective to destroy as many sparrows as possible. Bounties were paid for sparrows until the late 19th century, when it was accepted that the control measures did not work. Similar failures were recorded in a number of other European countries.

Ironically, as people in Europe were paid to kill sparrows as pests, others deliberately introduced them to places as far apart as Australia and New York. Initially they were welcomed, although later appreciation turned to serious concern for the impact on crops. By then sparrows had become well established and control attempts have failed to limit the sparrows numbers and range.

House sparrows are protected under the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981, which makes it illegal to intentionally kill, injure or take a house sparrow, or to take, damage or destroy an active nest or its contents.

In Scotland, it is illegal to intentionally or recklessly obstruct or prevent a wild bird from using its nest, and this may also be viewed as illegal by the courts elsewhere in the UK if they construe this action as causing the death of the eggs or young.

It is therefore important to check for active nests before any repairs to roofs and soffits are carried out during the breeding season.

The provision to control house sparrows under a general licence was removed from the Act in early 2005 in England, making the species fully protected in England.

However, general licences issued under the Act are still in place in Wales and Scotland, and under the Wildlife Order in Northern Ireland. These allow an authorised person to control house sparrows to prevent serious damage to agriculture or preserve public health and safety. The RSPB believes that this should only be done if there is no alternative solution.

An ‘authorised person’ is usually the landowner or occupier or his/her agent. Do note that nuisance or damage to property are not legitimate reasons for control, and as such an active roof nest cannot legally be removed in the RSPB's opinion, unless it can be demonstrated that removal was undertaken under the terms of one of the government licences.

Since general licences can be withdrawn at any time, it is recommended that anyone wanting to exercise the licence should first contact the relevant government department for up to date legal advice.

House sparrows usually nest in loose colonies and since they don't defend a proper territory, nests can be as little as 20-30 cm apart.

Nests are often placed in holes and crevices within buildings and they will readily use nestboxes. Free-standing nests are also frequently built, in creepers against walls and in thick hedges or conifers.

Pairs often remain faithful to their nest site and to each other for life, although a lost mate of either sex is normally replaced within days. A hole is filled with dry grass or straw with a nesting chamber lined with feathers, hairs, string and paper. Feathers may be plucked from a live pigeon!

The main nesting season is from April to August, although nesting has been recorded in all months. Most birds lay two or three clutches, but in a good year fourth attempts are not uncommon.

The female lays two to five eggs at daily intervals and often starts to incubate part way through egg-laying. Both sexes incubate, and the chicks hatch after 11-14 days. The parents share nesting duties equally. Chicks are brooded for 6-8 days, but can control their own body temperature only when 10 or 11 days old.

The youngsters are fed on a variety of invertebrates, including aphids, caterpillars, beetles and grasshoppers. Seeds and vegetable matter are also given, particularly during periods when invertebrates are scarce (e.g. cold weather) and become more important after the chicks leave the nest.

The young fledge 14-16 days after hatching. They are unable to feed themselves for about a week after leaving the nest and are cared for by their parents for around a fortnight. Post-fledging care is frequently left to the male as the hen prepares for the next brood. She can begin laying her next clutch of eggs within days of the previous brood leaving the nest.

Newly independent young often gather in large flocks, anywhere there is an abundance of seed, invertebrates and other suitable foods. These may be areas of wasteland or around garden feeding sites. Later, rural flocks may move on to grainfields to feed on the ripening grain, often joined by adult birds, once they have finished nesting. Flocks tend to break up through the autumn and birds return to their nesting colony sites.

Overview

Territory

Legal Status

Breeding

Daily Life/relationship with humans

Noisy and gregarious, these cheerful exploiters of man's rubbish and wastefulness, have managed to colonise most of the world. The ultimate avian opportunist perhaps. Monitoring suggests a severe decline in the UK house sparrow population, recently estimated as dropping by 71 per cent between 1977 and 2008 with substantial declines in both rural and urban populations. Whilst the decline in England continues, Breeding Bird Survey data indicate recent population increases in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.

The nesting habits of House Sparrows plays a significate role in the birds life and activities. Since these birds use the nest nearly year around.

In spring and summer the birds use the nest for raising young, up to four broods a season will be raised. In fall and winter it is used for resting in the day and roosting at night.

The nest can be located in any available place in buildings, trees, and birdhouses near human habitation. The adaptability and the number of broods raised is what causes this birds numbers to multiply.

The nest building is done almost year around. You are likely to notice most nest building activity in spring and fall. The main one is in spring just before breeding. Both the male and female build the nest.

The nest is spherical in shape, 8 to 10 inches in outside diameter and is made of coarse material on the outside such as, straw, twigs, paper, leaves, grasses, and any other available material. The inside is lined with feathers or fine grasses.

The female begins laying eggs about a week after nest building begins. Typically 4 eggs are laid but some nest can have up to 7 eggs.

The eggs are white to dull brown and speckled with brown. For the most part, incubation of the eggs is done by the female. Incubation last for about 12 days and the young leave the nest in 15 to 17 days after hatching.

Both the male and female feed the young. After the young birds have fledged, the male continues feeding the fledglings while the female begins the next brood.