The flying bird sparrow

House sparrow sketch 

The house sparrow sketch             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. 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.

The house sparrow is strongly associated with human habitation, and can live in urban or rural settings. Though found in widely varied habitats and climates, it typically avoids extensive woodlands, grasslands, and deserts away from human development. It feeds mostly on the seeds of grains and weeds, but it is an opportunistic eater and commonly eats insects and many other foods. Its predators include domestic cats, hawks, owls, and many other predatory birds and mammals.

Because of its numbers, ubiquity, and association with human settlements, the house sparrow is culturally prominent. It is extensively, and usually unsuccessfully, persecuted as an agricultural pest. It has also often been kept as a pet, as well as being a food item and a symbol of lust, sexual potency, commonness, and vulgarity. Though it is widespread and abundant, its numbers have declined in some areas. The animal's conservation status is listed as least concern on the IUCN Red List.

Most house sparrow vocalisations are variations on its short and incessant chirping call. Transcribed as chirrup, tschilp, or philip, this note is made as a contact call by flocking or resting birds, or by males to proclaim nest ownership and invite pairing. In the breeding season, the male gives this call repetitively, with emphasis and speed, but not much rhythm, forming what is described either as a song or an "ecstatic call" similar to a song. Young birds also give a true song, especially in captivity, a warbling similar to that of the European greenfinch.

The house sparrow has an extremely large range and population, and is not seriously threatened by human activities, so it is assessed as least concern for conservation on the IUCN Red List. The IUCN estimates for the global population runs up to nearly 1.4 billion individuals, second among all birds perhaps only to the red-billed quelea in abundance (although the quelea is, unlike the sparrow, restricted to a single continent and has never been subject to human introductions). However, populations have been declining in many parts of the world, especially near its Eurasian places of origin. These declines were first noticed in North America, where they were initially attributed to the spread of the house finch, but have been most severe in Western Europe. Declines have not been universal, as no serious declines have been reported from Eastern Europe, but have even occurred in Australia, where the house sparrow was introduced recently.

In Great Britain, populations peaked in the early 1970s,but have since declined by 68% overall,and about 90% in some regions.The RSPB lists the house sparrow's UK conservation status as red. In London, the house sparrow almost disappeared from the central city. The numbers of house sparrows in the Netherlands have dropped in half since the 1980s,so the house sparrow is even considered an endangered species.This status came to widespread attention after a female house sparrow, referred to as the "Dominomus", was killed after knocking down dominoes arranged as part of an attempt to set a world record.These declines are not unprecedented, as similar reductions in population occurred when the internal combustion engine replaced horses in the 1920s and a major source of food in the form of grain spillage was lost.

Various causes for the dramatic decreases in population have been proposed, including predation, in particular by Eurasian sparrowhawks; electromagnetic radiation from mobile phones;and diseases such as avian malaria. A shortage of nesting sites caused by changes in urban building design is probably a factor, and conservation organisations have encouraged the use of special nest boxes for sparrows.A primary cause of the decline seems to be an insufficient supply of insect food for nestling sparrows.Declines in insect populations result from an increase of monoculture crops, the heavy use of pesticides,the replacement of native plants in cities with introduced plants and parking areas, and possibly the introduction of unleaded petrol, which produces toxic compounds such as methyl nitrite.

Protecting insect habitats on farms,and planting native plants in cities benefit the house sparrow, as does establishing urban green spaces.To raise awareness of threats to the house sparrow, World Sparrow Day has been celebrated on 20 March across the world since 2010. Over the recent years, the house sparrow population has been on the decline in many Asian countries, and this decline is quite evident in India. To promote the conservation of these birds, in 2012, the house sparrow was declared as the state bird of Delhi.    

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