<<Up     Contents

Sparrow

Redirected from Passeridae

Old World Sparrows
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Aves
Order: Passeriformes
Family: Passeridae
Genera
Passer
Petronia
Carpospiza
Montifringilla

Sparrows are small passerine birds. There are 35 separate in the Old World sparrow family Passeridae. The differences between different species of sparrow can be very subtle— in general, sparrows tend to be small plump brownish or greyish birds with short tails and short powerful beaks.

Sparrows are seed-eaters, and they also consume small insects. A few species scavenge for food around cities, and like seagulls they will happily eat virtually anything in small quantities.

Old World sparrows are found in Europe, Africa and Asia. There are four genera of Old World sparrows.

Family Passeridae


American sparrows are in the family Emberizidae with the Old World buntings. They are not closely related to the European sparrows in the family Passeridae. Fifty-two species of mostly Emberizid sparrows have been observed breeding in North America.

Sparrows are not naturally found in Australia, but the early settlers imported them into the country and they quickly naturalised, particularly in urban and degraded areas. House Sparrows are now found in every state of Australia except for Western Australia. Tree Sparrows are also present, but unlike the House Sparrow, are not a serious pest. Asian tree sparrows occasionally arrive in Western Australia aboard cargo vessels, but so far they have been captured and removed before they could establish a breeding colony in the state.

wikipedia.org dumped 2003-03-17 with terodump