The oldest recorded house sparrows was 15 years old and found in Texas. But some do make it to a ripe old age in the wild. On average a house sparrow lives about five years in the wild but has been documented to live twice as long when in captivity. House Sparrows have a life expectancy of 4-5 years in the wild and up to 12 years in captivity They have become such a problem that they are actually one of 2 species of birds in the United States that you are legally allowed to trap and kill/euthanize, the other being the European starling.ģ. The house sparrow is an invasive species in the United States. House sparrows released in New York and other areas quickly multiplied and spread, and they reached most parts of the country within 50 years. House sparrows were imported from Europe and released in Brooklyn to help combat these pests, since the house sparrows eat them. Trees in New York City were heavily infested with linden moth caterpillars in the early 1850’s. While the House Sparrow is now an extremely common species found in American neighborhoods, it didn’t exist here until 1851. House Sparrows entered the United States to combat a pest While the House Sparrow is native to most of Europe, the Mediterranean, and a large portion of Asia, they either intentionally or accidentally been introduced to North and South America, Africa and Australia. House Sparrows can be found on every continent except for Antarctica! This makes the species the most widely distributed wild bird species in the world. House Sparrows are the most widely distributed wild bird in the world The House Sparrow, or Passer domesticus, is adaptable and can live in urban and rural settings. The House Sparrow may be small in size but it’s absolutely gargantuan in terms of population and world dispersal. but nearly every other continent on earth! Let’s learn some facts about house sparrows and what makes them so adaptable. In fact, they are not just residents of the U.S. From your backyard feeders, to the grocery store parking lot, to nesting in the storefront letters outside shopping malls, house sparrows are everywhere. So next time you’re out and about and see a little brown bird, why not stop a second and see if you can tell what it is!įor a good chance of seeing both sparrow species, head to our Montrose Basin Visitor Centre.Chances are you have seen these little brown birds everywhere. Whilst these birds are rarer than they used to be, they can still be seen throughout the year across many parts of Scotland. The estimated breeding population in the UK is 5,300,000 pairs.They are more opportunist eaters than tree sparrows, feeding on seeds but also on scraps from bins and picnic benches which is why they are more common in urban areas.Females have a buff-coloured crown and lack the black around their eyes and throats. Males have a light grey crown, black around their eyes and a black patch covering their throat and upper chest. Males and females have quite different plumage.House sparrows are slightly larger than tree sparrows, measuring up to 15cm from head to tail.The estimated breeding population in the UK is 200,000 pairs.Tree sparrows feed on seeds, cereals and insects.Pairs will often nest in holes in trees and produce two to three broods of up to seven eggs each year. Males and females look the same and mate for life.Measuring around 14cm from head to tail, tree sparrows are normally seen around hedgerows, farmland and woodland edges.Read on for a few other distinguishing features between the species. The simplest way to tell the difference between house sparrows and tree sparrows is to look at their crown! Tree sparrows have a solid chestnut-brown head and nape, whilst house sparrows (males at least) have a light grey crown. How to tell the difference between a house sparrow and a tree sparrow Let’s look at how you tell the difference between a house sparrow vs tree sparrow. These small finch-like birds have the unfortunate tendency of often being grouped in the “little brown bird” category, but whilst they may not be adorned with the brightest of colours, there are several easy ways to distinguish them. Reassuringly, recent Breeding Bird Survey data also suggests that numbers of both species may have stabilised or even begun to increase slightly in recent years. Tree sparrows have suffered a staggering 93% decline since 1970, with house sparrows not fairing much better, having seen a more than 70% decline in the same time. Once very common birds, both species have suffered significant declines in recent decades and as such, both appear on the UK Red List of Birds of Conservation Concern. The UK is home to two species of sparrow: the tree sparrow and the house sparrow.
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