Passeridae - Sparrows
The House Sparrow must rank as one of the most familiar birds in the world - occurring naturally in Europe, Asia and northern Africa, it has also been introduced, and become well established in, the Americas, southern Africa and parts of Australasia. In many areas it coexists closely with man, but in some parts of its range (parts of Asia, for instance) it is replaced as the city sparrow by the Tree Sparrow.
Sparrows are mostly robust birds of open country with stout bills designed for feeding on seeds (those of grass and cereals are preferred). They occur in all habitats from deserts to alpine mountain-tops. Sparrows are gregarious in both the breeding and non-breeding season and many species will nest in loose colonies. They build a roughly constructed ball-shaped nest, usually in trees and have may several broods in a season.
In Britain, the House Sparrow is found mostly near human habitation, the Tree Sparrow on farmland, though both have declined markedly in abundance in the last few decades.
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