English Sparrow

Calvin Naftzinger

Period 1

Classification

• Kingdom: Animalia• Phylum: Chordata• Class: Aves• Order: Passeriformes• Family: Passeridae• Genus: Passer• Species: P. domesticus• Scientific name: Passer domesticus

Size

• The sparrow is about 14-16 cm long.

• Males are roughly the same size as females

• The bill of the bird is small.

Locations

• The English Sparrow is a bird that originated from Russia, Europe, and southwest Asia.

• It is now inhabiting Australia, North America, South America, and South Africa, after being introduced to all these areas.

How’d It Get Here?

• 16 birds were brought to the United States to get rid of worms that were in shade trees in the mid-1800’s.

• They died out, but 100 more were brought over a few years later, and then hundreds more on top of those.

Nesting

• Sparrows tend to build nests in areas with buildings, around rocks, or in bushes. – When built in these areas, the nests are

usually messy.

• Well made nests are usually put in trees near rural areas.

Nesting (cont’d)

• The English sparrow is also known to force other birds out of their nests– Most commonly targeted are the House

Martin, Bluebirds, and Sand Martins.

• However, in areas where the sparrow originated from, this behavior is less likely to be observed.

Gender

• Female Male

Breeding

• When the sparrow lays eggs, it has between 5-6 eggs.

• It will lay 5-6 eggs usually 3 times a year, or even up to 5 times a year.

• The eggs come in several different patterns and colors.

Diet

• Diet consists of:– Buds– Young Sprouts– Flowers– Seeds

• It does not eat insects.

Population

• Although the population of the sparrow is the greatest in terms of number of any bird in the world, it is seeing a population decline.

• The bird is considered endangered in the Netherlands and the population is dropping in India.

Countering the Species

• Countries all over the world are trying to cut down on the population of the sparrow.– America has trappers and hunters that kill off

the population.– Australia has a kill on sight policy.– The United States has absolutely no laws that

protect the sparrow, making it free game.

Harmful Behavior

• The sparrow is hated because of it’s behaviors.

• It often takes the nests from other birds, sometimes killing the other birds, or will even build its own nest on top of another nest.

Harmful Behavior(cont’d)

• The sparrow will often target and kill birds in order to have more nesting.

• This behavior has lead to the decline of populations of certain birds in the U.S. and all over the world.

Sparrow pictures

Sparrow pictures

Sparrow eggs

Works Cited

• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Passer_domesticus April 1, 2009 http://www.50birds.com/BPEnglishSparrow.htm April 1, 2009

• http://www.avianweb.com/housesparrow.html April 1, 2009