Passer domesticus

About

A male House Sparrow during wintertime

The humble House sparrow is a small bird found in most parts of the world. Originally from Eurasia the birds like to live and breed in temperate continental climate but can also be found near the coast around the Mediterranean. They are typical "winter birds" and will stay in their usual home, bushes and shrubbery wherever humans live nearby, even in snow and ice. They are omnivores and will react well to being fed seeds, animal products (mostly fat), dried insects and small nuts. Once used to a birdfeeder, their swarm will always come back to that feeder.

Since they live in bigger groups of dozens up to hundreds of birds they have at least one bird keeping watch over all others, warning them in shrill cheeps of possible dangers. If you ever find a single sparrow, there may be something wrong with it. They don't thrive when being kept alone after a rescue and need their mates to find proper food and feed in safety.

Sam says

I'm always glad seeing sparrows when travelling. There are 12 subspecies which to me look mostly the same. So wherever I am, that is the one bird I can recognize around the world.

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