# House Sparrow

Scientific name: Passer domesticus

Bird group: [sparrow](https://birdsofpuertorico.com/family/sparrow)

Canonical source: https://birdsofpuertorico.com/bird/262/House-Sparrow

## Identification

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. One of about 25 species in the genus Passer, the house sparrow is native to most of Europe, the Mediterranean Basin, and a large part of Asia. Its intentional or accidental introductions to many regions, including parts of Australasia, Africa, and the Americas, make it the most widely distributed wild bird.


## Distribution and habitat

The House Sparrow is native to Eurasia and Africa, and has been 
introduced to the West Indies. 
It is locally common in urban 
areas throughout Puerto Rico, 
and it has spread during the last 
decades from the south coast 
through the entire coastal plain 
(Raffaele and others 1998). It also 
occurs on Vieques where it is a 
fairly common resident (Gemmill 
2015), as well as Culebra and 
Mona (Ventosa-Febles and others 
2005). Its habitat consists mostly 
of urban areas (Oberle 2018, 
Raffaele and others 1998). The 
atlas fieldwork yielded a total of 
584 records within 306 hexagons 
or 64 percent of the 479 total hexagons (see map). Of the 306 
hexagons where this species was 
found, breeding met the atlas 
definition of confirmed in 57 
percent (173) of the hexagons, 
probable in 17 percent (53), 
and possible in 26 percent (80) 
(see map). House Sparrow distribution. The map shows the highest breeding code by hexagon and overlaying the ecological life zones in 
Puerto Rico. Note: percentages may not total 100 due to rounding. 

## Breeding

The House Sparrow generally builds a small cup-shaped bulky 
nest that is often placed in trees 
of gardens or parks, roofs, holes 
in walls, light posts, pipes, or 
any other type of cavity in urban 
areas (Oberle 2018, Raffaele 
and others 1998). Previously 
published reports indicate that 
breeding occurs throughout the       253House Sparrow/Gorrión Domésticoyear but mostly from March to September (Raffaele and others 
1998). Atlas results show that 
this species breeds throughout 
the year with the most breeding 
activity from March to June (see 
chart). Overall, the breeding 
activity peaks in June, and it 
mostly takes place within the 
subtropical moist forest life 
zone (see chart). Results (see 
table and map) show that this 
species breeds mostly within the 
subtropical moist forest life zone 
(66 percent of the hexagons) but also in the subtropical dry 
forest life zone (24 percent of 
the hexagons) and at higher 
elevations within the subtropical 
wet forest life zone (10 percent 
of the hexagons).

## Conservation

The current population trend for the House Sparrow is described 
as decreasing in many urban 
areas of Europe (De Laet and 
Summers-Smith 2007). This 
species is currently listed as a species of least concern by the 
IUCN (BirdLife International 
2018). Locally, this species is not 
listed in any of the threatened 
categories of PRDNER and 
USFWS. In Puerto Rico, the 
House Sparrow has a protected 
habitat in land of 11 percent or 
826 km2 of the total area covered by the hexagons where evidence 
of breeding was found for this 
species (7318 km2).

Photo: https://birdsofpuertorico.com/static/images/webp/in_262_Im0.png.webp

Distribution map: https://birdsofpuertorico.com/static/images/webp/in_262_Im1.png.webp

Source note: Text is reproduced from this site's published record. Historical conservation statements and taxonomy have not been independently revalidated. See https://birdsofpuertorico.com/about for source credits and limitations.