Granddad’s Camera
House sparrow, as it appears in the game

No.004 · Birds · Common

House sparrow

Passer domesticus

A sociable, chirping little bird that lives beside people. The male has a grey crown and black bib; the female is plain streaky brown. Once everywhere, it has vanished from many towns.

When to look

All year, mostly at dawn, day and dusk.

Time of day

Best time
Morning and evening around hedges, eaves and feeders, all year.
Where in the game
Millbrook (garden, urban, farmland and churchyard)
Size
Length about 14 cm
Wingspan
About 24 cm
Weight
About 27 g (BTO adult average)
Lifespan
Average about 3 years; the oldest ringed bird lived 12 years (Wildlife Trusts, BTO)
Population
About 5.3 million pairs in the UK (BTO, 2016)
Status
Red (Birds of Conservation Concern 5, 2021)

Diet

Seeds and grain; feeds insects to the chicks; bread and scraps from people.

Habitat

Houses, farms and hedges; rarely far from buildings.

Breeding

Loose colonies nest in holes under eaves and in dense ivy from April; usually 4–5 eggs, 2–3 broods; the young need insects to survive.

Field signs

  • Constant 'cheep-chirrup' chorus from a dense hedge
  • Males: grey crown, chestnut nape, black bib; females: buff eyestripe on plain brown
  • Dust-baths: bowl-shaped hollows in dry soil

Did you know?

  • House sparrows have been Red-listed in the UK since 2002; by 2000 rural populations had fallen by 47% and urban and suburban ones by about 60% (BTO).
  • House sparrows are homebodies: they rarely travel far from where they hatched.
  • BTO figures show numbers have fallen by about 18% since 1995 after the great losses of earlier decades.

Moments worth waiting for

  • Dust bath April to August, day
    A flock of sparrows shuffles and shakes in a dry patch of soil, dust puffing around them.
  • Hedge chorus March to July, dawn and day
    The whole hedge erupts in cheeping, dozens of sparrows hidden in the leaves.

Rare forms and local legends

  • Leucistic sparrow A rare colour form, about 1 in 50 sightings
    House sparrows are among the birds most often reported with leucism. Because they live in colonies, a pale one is easy to find again at the same hedge (BTO).

Photo tip

Sit near a dense hedge and let the flock get used to you. Photograph males at eye level with the sun behind you; the black bib shows best in soft light.

Be a good naturalist

Leave hedges uncut in the nesting season (March–August) and put up sparrow terrace boxes; do not block access holes under eaves in spring.

The law

All wild birds, their nests and eggs are protected under the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981; it is an offence to kill, injure or take them or damage an active nest.

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