House Sparrow

The house sparrow is a small solid little bird; it has a strong bill for opening and eating seeds and prefers to nest in the cavities of houses and other buildings, they are sociable birds, nesting in colonies which they return to for the winter, so if you are lucky enough to have a colony of House Sparrows in your garden it is likely they are there to stay.

Adult males have several distinctive traits that separate them from the females. Males have a grey crown and neck with the sides of their head being a warm brown. A black bib extends downwards and widens as it reaches further down the chest. The back is a warm shade of brown similar to that found on the sides of the head, broken by intermittent streaks of black as well as the odd white wing feather.

Adult females and all juvenile house sparrows have very similar markings. They are all of a sandy brown colour and tend to have darker brown and grey flashes running down their backs and wings.

Feeding Habits

House sparrows rely mainly on seeds as a source of food, they are happy to feed on any Wild Bird Mix of seed, though they do eat fruit, buds and insects, they will appreciate any fat and suet left out for them, however during the breeding season they rely on finding insects to feed their young, when these are in short supply they will appreciate live mealworms to take back to the nest. The house sparrow is a small solid little bird; it has a strong bill for opening and eating seeds and prefers to nest in the cavities of houses and other buildings.