House sparrow

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House sparrow
House Sparrow (male)

House Sparrow (male)

Systematics
Order : Passerines (Passeriformes)
Subordination : Songbirds (passeri)
Superfamily : Passeroidea
Family : Sparrows (Passeridae)
Genre : Passer
Type : House sparrow
Scientific name
Passer domesticus
( Linnaeus , 1758)
Subspecies

domesticus group

  • P. d. domesticus (LINNAEUS, 1758)
  • P. d. tingiatus (LOCHE, 1867)
  • P. d. balearoibericus (JORDANS, 1923)
  • P. d. biblicus (E. HARTERT, 1904)
  • P. d. mayaudi (KUMERLOEVE, 1969)
  • P. d. persicus (ZARUDNY & KUDASHEV, 1916)
  • P. d. niloticus (NICOLL & BONHOTE, 1909)

indicus group

  • P. d. rufidorsalis (CL BREHM, 1855)
  • P. d. indicus (JARDINE & SELBY, 1835)
  • P. d. hufufae (TICEHURST & CHEESMAN, 1924)
  • P. d. hyrcanus (ZARUDNY & KUDASHEV, 1916)
  • P. d. bactrianus (ZARUDNY & KUDASHEV, 1916)
  • P. d. parkini (WHISTLER, 1920)

The house sparrow ( Passer domesticus ) - also called sparrow or house sparrow - is a species of bird from the sparrow family (Passeridae) and one of the best-known and most widespread songbirds . The sparrow joined humans as a cultural follower over 10,000 years ago . After numerous intentional or accidental naturalizations , it can be found almost everywhere, with the exception of the tropics and a few other areas, where people reside all year round. The worldwide population is estimated at around 500 million individuals. After significant population declines in the second half of the 20th century, especially in western Central Europe , the species was added to the warning list of threatened species in some regions .

Appearance and characteristics

Female house sparrow House sparrow flown out recently
Female house sparrow
House sparrow flown out recently

The house sparrow is a strong and somewhat stocky songbird. It weighs around 30 grams and reaches a body length of 14 to 16 centimeters - it is slightly larger than the closely related tree sparrow . The house sparrow is particularly striking because of its large head and powerful, conical beak. The length of the wings is 71 to 82 millimeters, the wingspan is about 23 centimeters. Males and females clearly differ in their coloring: the males are markedly more contrasting than the females, they have a black or dark gray throat and a black breast flap which, however, can be covered by lighter feather edges in autumn after moulting . The parting is lead gray and bordered by a chestnut brown field that extends from the eye to the nape of the neck. The cheeks are light gray to whitish. The back is brown with black vertical stripes. The wings are colored in the same way; one white wing band is clearly recognizable, a second only hinted at. The chest and belly are ash gray. In city centers and industrial areas, the plumage is usually far less contrasting due to pollution. Partially albinotic individuals occur relatively frequently .

Older nestling

The females are more inconspicuous than the males and are dull brown, but very finely drawn. The top is light gray-brown, the back is striped black-brown and yellow-brown. The head, which is also gray-brown, has a light stripe above the eyes, which is particularly clear behind the eye. Young birds look like females, they are only slightly lighter and more yellow in color. After they have fledged, they remain recognizable by their yellowish beak bulges for a few days.

Plumage and moult

The juvenile moult is a full moult and begins at the age of six to eight weeks. In order for the moult to be completed before the onset of the less favorable weather period, it can be reduced from an average of 82 to 64 days, depending on the time of birth. The annual moult of adult birds is also a full moult. It takes place in Central Europe in July or August. If there is danger or stress, sparrows also tend to shock moult . Before moulting, the sparrow plumage consists of 3,200 feathers that weigh a total of 1.4 grams. Immediately after moulting, there are around 3600 feathers weighing 1.9 grams. To care for their plumage, the animals take dust baths to protect themselves from feather parasites .

flight

House sparrows fly quickly and in a straight line, relatively low and mostly from the nesting site to a nearby tree or bush. They can reach speeds of nearly 60 kilometers per hour. The wings swing up and down about 13 times per second. The distance flight is slightly undulating with descending glide phases in which the wings are slightly laid out, but the flight is more flatterly undulating compared to the finch species . When eating, they can also briefly stand in the air like hummingbirds.

voice

As sociable birds, house sparrows have many calls. The usual warning call for people in the air is structurally different from other passerine birds a soft, trilled "drüüü", whereby this call is also occasionally used against larger food competitors such as seagulls . Persistent nasal calls such as “kew kew” or “terrettett” are used to warn against soil enemies.

The song of the house sparrow is only performed by the male and consists of a monotonous, relatively loud, rhythmic "Tschilpen" (mostly monosyllabic, also "schielp", "Tschuip", "Tschirp", sometimes also with two syllables like "Tschirrip" or "Tschirrep") ). The pitch and arrangement of the elements vary significantly from bird to bird. While singing, the throat grows larger. Analyzes have shown that these vocal expressions are composed in a complex manner and that both individual characteristics and moods can be encoded in them.

For copulation calling males and females with quiet, solid and nasal sounds on, females use it repeatedly "Djie" the Kopulationsruf of the male is a whispering "iag iag". There are also some other situation-dependent calls whose duration, overtone graduation and modulation can be designed quite differently ( voice example ).

House sparrows in the wild are also able to copy alarm calls from starlings and blackbirds . In addition, recent research shows that the alarm calls of other bird species are well understood. Today it is relatively unknown that house sparrows are also very adaptive "singing students". In the 18th century, teaching song to reared birds was a popular game. There is a fair amount of reports and evidence that house sparrows raised in the company of canaries , for example , perfectly learn their rolling wallows, even if they imitate this with their harsh and loud voice.

distribution and habitat

Distribution area of ​​the house sparrow:
  • Year-round occurrence
  • Wintering areas
  • Introductory areas
  • Probable introduction areas (year-round occurrence)
  • Population probably extinct & introduced

    • distribution

    The original Palearctic and Oriental distribution area, after numerous naturalizations in other continents, has expanded almost to the entire globe since the middle of the 19th century. Today the house sparrow is only absent in the polar regions, parts of northern Siberia , China and Southeast Asia, Japan , western Australia , tropical Africa and South America and the northernmost part of America. This makes it one of the most widespread bird species. The northern limit of the distribution area fluctuates between the 60th and 70th parallel. In the southern hemisphere, with the exception of Antarctica , the land masses have been settled down to the southernmost foothills; only in Western Australia is there consistent attempts to prevent settlement.

    In Europe there are areas in which the House Sparrow is represented by a close relative: on the Italian mainland and on the islands of Sicily , Corsica and Crete , the also the proximity of man has examined Italy Sperling established. On the Iberian Peninsula , the Balkans and in parts of North Africa, the house sparrow lives together with the closely related willow sparrow , which is not yet a pronounced cultural follower.

    habitat

    Dry, warm, loose tree savannahs are assumed to be the original biotope before connection to humans, but this remains speculative due to a lack of reliable data. When penetrating Central Europe, the house sparrow was already a cultural follower with a strong bond with humans. This became clear, for example, during the devastation of Heligoland after the Second World War , during which the house sparrows disappeared with the people and only returned after the resettlement from 1952. In mild zones, however, remote habitats are also used.

    The prerequisites for breeding occurrences are the year-round availability of seeds and grain products and suitable nesting sites. Villages with agriculture, suburban areas, city centers with large parks, zoological gardens, cattle or poultry farms and shopping centers are ideal. However, unusual living spaces are also being populated, such as air-conditioned airport buildings that are closed off from the outside world. The highest nesting occurrence is found at around 4,500 m in the Himalayas , the lowest at -86 m in Death Valley in North America.

    hikes

    In Europe the house sparrow is almost exclusively a resident bird , and to a lesser extent also a short-distance migrant . Settlements in the Alpine region that are not permanently inhabited are also cleared by house sparrows in late autumn or winter. The Asian subspecies P. d. bactrianus, on the other hand, is a migratory bird and winters in Pakistan and India when migrating distances of up to 2000 kilometers . The form P. d., Which is mainly native to the Himalayas . parkini is a partial puller .

    After the first brood settlement, the house sparrows of the nominate form are very true to their location, the radius of action during the breeding season can be only 50 meters for urban populations. Young birds scatter non-directionally and initially join growing swarms in late summer . Some of the adult birds also join these autumn swarms, which radiate into the vicinity of the breeding grounds in order to use the food available there. After the flocks dissolve, the adult birds usually return to their original breeding site in early autumn.

    food

    House Sparrow, male
    Females foraging for food

    The house sparrow feeds mainly on seeds and above all on the seeds of cultivated cereals, which can make up 75 percent of the total diet in rural areas. Preference is given to wheat before oats and barley . Regionally and seasonally, the proportion of seeds from wild grasses and herbs can equal or exceed the proportion of cereals. From spring to summer, animal food also plays an important role and can make up up to 30 percent of the total diet. These are insects including their developmental stages as well as other invertebrates . In the city in particular, sparrows show an opportunistic behavior and become omnivores , which they prove particularly at food stalls and in open-air restaurants.

    Peterbecker-8489.jpg

    In the first few days, the house sparrow feeds the young almost exclusively with caterpillars and other shredded insects. If too little animal food is available and, for example, only bread is fed to the nestlings, this can cause digestive disorders that can lead to the death of the nestlings. As the boys get older, the parents also feed more and more seeds, with the vegetarian share increasing to a third.

    behavior

    The house sparrow shows gregarious and social behavior all year round. Many house sparrow behaviors are geared towards group life and the daily routine is highly synchronized.

    activity

    House sparrows become active during civil twilight . The singing begins on average about 18 minutes before sunrise, whereby differences in brightness caused by clouds remain largely unaffected. The activity ends before sunset even in winter.

    In mid-latitudes, nocturnal activities are occasionally observed, for example catching insects in the floodlights of industrial plants. Sparrows hunting at night can also be spotted on the Empire State Building more than 300 meters above the ground.

    Food acquisition

    Food is almost always gregarious, even while the young are being raised. For this purpose, swarms, smaller groups or at least loose associations often come together. In grain fields the feeding is most efficient in flocks of around 20 birds, since the time used for backup is shorter in larger communities, but the time required for confrontations with conspecifics in larger associations more than outweighs this gain in time. When a single house sparrow discovers a source of food, it lures the others by shouting and waits until it starts to eat. 75 percent of these “pioneers” are males. Sometimes chunks of food are held in place with the foot when chopped up with the help of the beak, similar to the behavior of tits . Larger pieces of food are often transported and chopped up elsewhere, including in the nest.

    Especially with sparrows living in the city, the search of the radiator grilles of parked cars for dead insects can often be observed. Even parked locomotives are often examined in the front area by the animals shortly after their arrival at the depot. The house sparrow occasionally tries its hand at airhunters. He starts a short flight after flying past insects from a seat attendant . Although this seems tedious and not as elegant as, for example, with the gray flycatcher , it is still not infrequently successful.

    Locomotion

    On the ground, the house sparrow almost always moves with both legs hopping. Individual steps can only be observed when approaching very close objects or when moving sideways on branches. When foraging for food, the sparrow often perches flat on its legs so that the feathers touch the ground. The house sparrow climbs "sliding" on vertical house walls or trunks and also leans on its spread tail, sometimes even on the half-open wings. In twigs he moves quite nimbly and can swing upside down around a thin twig without loosening his feet.

    Comfort behavior

    House sparrows bathe all year round, and the sunshine is very stimulating. People often drink before the three-minute bath. Dust baths often follow or alternate with the bath. The movements in a dust bath correspond to those in a water bath. This bathing usually takes place one after the other, followed by joint care of the plumage. Occasionally, the hollow used for the dust bath is also defended against conspecifics with a corresponding threatening behavior.

    • Males in the sand bath

    • House sparrows in the sand bath

    • House sparrow couple having a bath together

    Territorial and aggressive behavior

    The house sparrow does not defend an extensive breeding or feeding area, but only the immediate vicinity of the nest or sleeping place. At the time of reproduction, females near the nest are dominant over males, although they are smaller.

    Conflicts with conspecifics are mainly observed when eating, bathing and sleeping places and at the nest. Almost 90 percent of the conflicts are between males. Aggression is often expressed by frontal threats, with the head bent forward, the tail fanned out and raised, the back feathers raised and the wings angled. At higher intensity there are also fights with forward movements with open bills and mutual heels, sometimes in the air. Aggression against other species occurs mainly when there is competition for nesting sites, but these are rare when there is sufficient supply. Occasionally house sparrows prevent other cave nesters from settling in nest boxes or displace them therefrom. The tree sparrow, whose habitat partially overlaps that of the house sparrow, is displaced by the house sparrow simply because it broods earlier.

    Enemy behavior

    Females are more alert and shy than males. The escape distance when people approach is lower, especially in cities, but increases with the size of the troops. When there is an alarm from the ground enemy, conspecifics rush over and follow the enemy in trees and bushes with hatred and warning. Starlings , too , in many places the only superior nesting place competitors, are snarled when inspecting potential breeding grounds and sometimes driven away, but usually the starlings have the upper hand in the event of a conflict.

    Reproduction

    House sparrows copulating

    Sexual maturity occurs in house sparrows at the end of the first year of life. Sparrows usually have a lifelong marriage. However, when a partner dies, re-breeding takes place quickly. Bigynia ( polygyny ) also occurs occasionally .

    In Central Europe , the main breeding season begins at the end of April and lasts until August. The house sparrows native to the southern hemisphere have adapted their breeding season to the local seasons. During this period two to three, rarely even four broods are raised. In the first and second broods, a good third of the eggs laid become fledglings, in the later broods it is only a fifth. In addition, the mortality of the young birds after flinging out is serious in the first few weeks. After a year, only 20 percent of young birds live in rural areas, and up to 40 percent of young birds in urban habitats. Difficulties in obtaining food independently and high predation are likely to be decisive for the high mortality rate .

    Nest location and nest

    The house sparrow is niche , cave and free breeder with a strong tendency to breed collectively. It sometimes nests on its own, but often in loose associations or colonies, with the nests usually a minimum of 50 centimeters apart. The diverse use of all suitable structures as nest locations are an expression of the house sparrow's special adaptability. Protected cavities on or near buildings serve as typical nesting places, be it under loose roof tiles or in wall holes or niches under the canopy. But nest boxes, swallow nests or woodpecker holes are also selected. Occasionally one can also find sparrows as lodgers in stork nests, whereby they benefit from the fact that their air enemies do not dare to approach such nests. If there is a lack of nesting space, free nests can also be created in trees or bushes with a roof made of stalks. The nest height of free breeders is between 3 and 8 meters and thus on average higher and more inaccessible to predators than in the field sparrow . Free nests are considered to be the house sparrow's original way of nesting.

    Regardless of the location of the nest, it is in principle always a ball nest with a side entrance. The nest is not built with particular care; the nesting material that has not been worked on outside usually hangs down loosely. Sparrows block almost everything, for example straw, grass, wool, paper or rags. The material is determined less by selection than by its availability within a radius of 20 to 50 meters. The nest hollow is lined with fine stalks and feathers for padding. Free-standing nests reach the size of a soccer ball, nests in niches and caves are adapted to the circumstances and vary considerably in size. The nest is usually started by the male during courtship, in Central Europe from mid-March at the earliest. The creation of new nests is preceded by a phase of aimlessly carrying around nesting material, especially with first-time brooders. Both partners complete the nest together, most intensively in the week before laying begins. Nest building can take weeks, but if the nest is lost, a replacement can be created in two to three days.

    Courtship and mating

    The courtship begins with the occupation of the breeding site by the males, in Central Europe sometimes from mid-February and especially in March. When choosing a partner, a nesting place that is as protected as possible and the male's breast flap, which swells when singing, play a role for the female. The unmated male advertises with fluffed plumage in the narrower nest area with high “chili”, “szilib” or similar calls. If a female expresses interest, the male shows him the nesting place by slipping dry stalks in the beak. The female follows the male by briefly hatching and checking the nesting site. Only from this moment on does the male begin to perform the actual song, the structurally poor and monotonous chirping, often for hours.

    The group courtship is also noticeable in house sparrows. This begins with the rapid and noisy pursuit of a female by two to eight males. Mostly in dense vegetation, the female is surrounded by the courting males and they take turns trying to peck and copulate the defending female in the cloaca region . Everyone chirps excitedly and at this moment they miss any caution. As a rule, copulation does not occur . The male mated with the female is also involved and stays with the female until the end. The meaning of the group courtship is still open.

    Copulations in the early stages of the reproductive period are usually unsuccessfully sought by the male. It hops back and forth with ruffled plumage, hanging wings and a stilted tail. In the later fertile phase, it is the female that prompts mating . It crouches horizontally with its tail slightly raised and wings vibrating. Females can sometimes request copulation 15 to 20 times an hour. In the case of colony-breeding pairs, the males, on the other hand, are interested in more frequent copulation to secure their own paternity. This behavior and the male's guarding of the female is only partially effective; in 8 to 19 percent of the cases, foreign copulations were detected.

    Clutch and brood

    House sparrow eggs in the Toulouse Museum
    Gelege,     Museum Wiesbaden collection

    The clutch consists of four to six eggs with an average size of 15 × 22 millimeters and a weight of around 3 grams. The eggs are very different in shape, size and color, but quite constant in an individual female. They are white to slightly greenish or grayish and provided with gray or brown spots, whereby the spots sometimes completely cover the basic color. The last eggs of a clutch are larger in width and weight than the first, although this difference is even more pronounced in later broods. Therefore, the last hatched young have an advantage.

    Regular incubation usually begins after the penultimate egg is laid and usually lasts between 10 and 15 days from this point. The incubation period is influenced by the outside temperature and is therefore usually shorter with the third brood. In the event of brooding interruptions due to the weather, the breeding season can last up to 22 days. Both partners breed alternately, with the female usually spending the night on the clutch. While the female is looking for food, the male probably only keeps the eggs warm, because there is no brood spot .

    Development of the young

    Female feeds her chick that has just fledged

    The hatched young are hovered by both parents and at the beginning mainly fed with chopped insects, later increasingly with seeds. In the first few days, the faeces are swallowed by the parents, later carried out up to 20 meters. The duration of the nestling period varies widely, observations range from 11 to 23 days, the rule being 14 to 16 days. After about the fourth day the eyes of the young are open, on the 8th to 9th day the nestlings become colored by the increasing bursting of the quills .

    If both parents are lost, the intense begging calls from the boys usually encourage deputy brood helpers from the neighborhood to feed the boys until they are independent. All young leave the nest within a few hours and are usually already able to fly. They eat a little themselves after one to two days and are usually independent after 7 to 10 days, at the latest after 14 days.

    Life expectancy and enemies

    The average life expectancy of sexually mature house sparrows is 1.5 to 2.3 years; if the young birds are also included, it is only 9 months. Life expectancy is higher in cities than in rural areas. In the Netherlands, a study found that in the suburbs, 18 percent of sparrows lived to be 5 or more years old, while in rural areas only 4 percent. In the wild, house sparrows around 14 years old have been repeatedly identified by ringing . Older age is possible in captivity; the maximum age observed so far is allegedly 23 years.

    The sparrows living in the wild are in danger primarily from predation and, especially in large cities, from road traffic. Adult birds suffer the greatest losses with 45 to 56 percent of the total mortality during the breeding season. The soil enemies include stone martens and especially cats , and less often dogs. The sparrow-hunted enemies are mainly sparrowhawks , barn owls and kestrels . Colored males with pronounced throat patches are more often the victims of birds of prey. House sparrows are the main prey of the sparrow in many places with a share of more than 50 percent. But also for the kestrel they represent the most common bird prey in Berlin, for example .

    Inventory and inventory development

    Worldwide, the number of house sparrows is estimated at 500 million individuals. In Europe, too, the estimates are rather imprecise. In Germany, the house sparrow is the second most common breeding bird after the chaffinch, despite the decline in the population . According to Birdlife , the population in the German-speaking area is as follows:

    country Number of breeding pairs Period Trend (%)
    Germany 04,000,000 - 10,000,000 1995-1999 −20 to −30
    Liechtenstein 0,0001,000 - 2,500 1998-2000 -00 to −20
    Luxembourg 0.0035,000-40,000 2002-2002 −20 to −30
    Austria 0.0350,000-700,000 1998-2002 -00 to −20
    Switzerland 0.0400,000 - 500,000 1998-2002 -00 to −20

    The percentage of the trend relates to a period of ten years. Changes smaller than 20 percent are not yet considered to be statistically significant because they are in the range of natural fluctuations.

    The house sparrow is currently considered to be the second most common breeding bird species in Germany with 5.6 to 11 million breeding pairs in 2008.

    In western Central Europe, the population decreased significantly in the second half of the 20th century. This decline is evident from the fact that swarms of similar size in grain fields as in the 1950s are no longer observed. However, due to the lack of interest in this species at the time and the lack of data from this period, the decline in the population has only been poorly documented. Due to the decline in the population, the house sparrow was also included on the warning list of endangered species, although the population is still very high in absolute terms. Also because of this development, the sparrow was voted bird of the year 2002 in Germany and Austria .

    The reasons for this decline are complex, the following causes are given:

    • Modern or renovated buildings hardly offer any niches or cavities that can be used as breeding grounds.
    • By using more efficient harvesting machines , less usable food remains in the fields after the harvest.
    • Extensive cessation of open livestock farming
    • The increased use of pesticides in agriculture reduces the supply and quality of animal food, which is especially important for the nestlings.
    • The same negative consequence also has the increased proportion of sealed surfaces in the area of ​​cities and suburbs and also that in many places the natural vegetation has been replaced by alien plants ( e.g. ornamental shrubs ).

    However, the situation very much depends on local conditions. In various major European cities such as London , Paris , Warsaw , Hamburg and Munich , a very sharp decline has been observed in recent years. A particularly frightening development was noted in the Hamburg district of St. Georg , where between 1983 and 1987 the number of house sparrows fell from 490 to 80 birds per square kilometer. For Munich this trend continues especially in the center. The development in Berlin is more positive , where the declines are only becoming apparent locally in the redevelopment areas and the population of 280 birds per square kilometer is at the top in an international comparison.

    Systematics

    Taxonomic classification of sparrows

    In the past it was believed that the sparrow family was closely related to the African weaver birds , and accordingly the sparrows were assigned as a subfamily (passerinae) of the weaver bird family. Comparisons of the DNA sequences of different species have shown that there are also relationships to stilts , beepers and brown cells. Even if this is still controversial, the sparrows are now seen as an independent family (Passeridae). This family is divided into four genera and 36 species .

    Origin of the house sparrow species

    In 1977, Johnston and Kitz assumed that the house sparrow species developed as a pronounced cultural successor when humans settled down and began farming 10,000 years ago in the Middle East . Summers-Smith, on the other hand, came to the conclusion in 1988 that the house sparrow was one of the many Eurasian species of the genus Passer , which during the Pleistocene was descended from an ancient sparrow that inhabited habitats in the eastern Mediterranean and in tropical Africa that crossed the Nile valley or the African rift valley. He assumed that the male of this original sparrow already had a black bib, which is characteristic of all modern Palearctic and Oriental sparrows. This original sparrow spread both west and east in the Eurasian steppe belt . Subsequently, the repeated advance and retreat of the glaciers led to periodic isolation, which led to adaptive developments and the division into today's species.

    There are many indications that this species originated much earlier. The earliest dated of the relatively rare fossil record of the house sparrow is dated to 400,000  BP and was discovered in a cave near Bethlehem in Palestine . This fossil bears more resemblance to the house sparrow than to today's African sparrows. This and another later fossil cave find in the same area suggests that this ancestor of the sparrow lived close to the Paleolithic people .

    Molecular genetic studies to date the splitting of sparrow species contradict each other considerably. An investigation of the gene segments of 15 polymorphic isozymes carried out in 1988 dates the split of the house sparrow from the willow sparrow between 105,000 and 122,000  BP . The result of an analysis of the mitochondrial gene sequence of cytochrome b and other mitochondrial pseudogenes carried out in 2001 is that the splitting of the sparrow species and also the splitting off of the willow sparrow occurred during the Miocene or Pliocene, i.e. more than 2 million years ago.

    Related species

    The willow sparrow was long considered a subspecies of the house sparrow, today the willow sparrow is seen as a separate species. Both species live largely sympatric on the Iberian peninsula , the Balkans and parts of North Africa without hybridization , which is evidence of the independence of the species . The plumage of the males and the vocalizations differ significantly from each other, but ecologically and nutritionally the species are largely the same. In the common area of ​​distribution, the house sparrow occupies cities and towns and “leaves” the rural habitats to the willow sparrow. If both species occur alone, however, they occupy a similar ecological spectrum. Differences in plumage characteristics, nest construction, voice and migratory behavior are viewed as ethological isolation mechanisms. Above all in eastern Algeria and Tunisia , however, these isolation barriers seem to have largely collapsed in places, due to the hybridization there are sparrow populations that are very variable in terms of appearance and characteristics.

    Italian sparrow

    The Italian sparrow is also often viewed as a hybrid form of house and willow sparrows, but this is also highly doubted today. In addition to being represented as an independent species, the Italian sparrow is also classified as a subspecies of the house sparrow and the willow sparrow, and also as a hybrid form without being assigned to the original species ( passer x italiae ). Even if molecular biological studies are contradicting today, there is much to be said for the classification of the Italian sparrow as a subspecies of the willow sparrow. This is also indicated by the fact that, in contrast to the abrupt geographical exclusion of Italian and house sparrows in the Alpine region, Italian and willow sparrows in central and southern Italy are connected by a broad, flowing transition zone (for more see Italian sparrow ).

    Subspecies

    Around 13 different subspecies are currently recognized for the house sparrow, which are grouped into two distinctly different subspecies groups. The forms of the domesticus group are larger, with longer wings and a more powerful beak. The lighter parts of the plumage, such as the sides of the head, are tinted gray and less white, the maroon pigments are less strong than those of the eastern indicus group.

    The indicus group is mainly found in the upper Nile valley of Sudan , large parts of Arabia , southern Afghanistan , Iran , India , Sri Lankas and Burma , around the Caspian Sea , in Central Asia and in the Himalayas . The rest of the distribution area is populated by representatives of the domesticus group, practically all naturalized populations also belong to this group, most of which come from the nominate form.

    In Eastern Iran, both subspecies groups are linked in a broad transition zone. In addition to other points of contact, both subspecies groups are also in contact in Central Asia northwards to Turkmenistan and Kazakhstan . In the latter contact zone there is obviously no hybridization, the subspecies groups behave here like two species. The contact there came about relatively recently through an eastern expansion of the distribution area of ​​the nominate form belonging to the domesticus population. The individuals of the nominate form there are significantly larger than those of the subspecies bactrianus as a representative of the indicus group there. Some researchers see the subspecies bactrianus , which is a migratory bird and overwinters in India and Pakistan, as a separate species ("Indian Sparrow" or Passer indicus ). However, this is not generally recognized.

    The characteristics and distribution of the individual subspecies are as follows:

    Female of the subspecies P. d. domesticus in Vilnius , Lithuania
    Female of the subspecies P. d. indicus in Calcutta , India
    Males of the subspecies P. d. indicus, also in Calcutta
    1. domesticus group
      • P. d. domesticus ( Linnaeus , 1758): The nominate form colonizes Europe and Siberia eastwards to the Pacific coast, to the Amurland and to northeast China. In addition, most of the neozoa belong to the nominate form. The wing length is 77 to 83 millimeters.
      • P. d. tingitanus Loche , 1867: This subspecies occurs in northwest Africa and colonizes Morocco to Tunisia and Libya to Cyrenaica . The differences to the nominate form are small, the middle section of the vertex feathers is extensively black, which can also be observed as an individual variation in specimens of the nominate form. The ear coverts and the underside are on average whiter.
      • P. d. balearoibericus from Jordans , 1923, P. d. biblicus Hartert, E , 1904 and P. d. mayaudi Kumerloeve , 1969: These subspecies are also very similar to the nominate form, they are just a little paler. They occur in Asia Minor and Cyprus as well as south to the Sinai Peninsula .
      • P. d. persicus Zarudny & Kudashev , 1916: This subspecies found in Iran is even paler than the populations of Asia Minor.
      • P. d. niloticus Nicoll & Bonhote , 1909: The subspecies that populates the Nile valley southwards to the Sudanese border is similarly pale as persicus , only slightly smaller with a wing length of 72 to 77 millimeters.
    2. indicus group
      • P. d. rufidorsalis Brehm, CL , 1855: In this subspecies occurring in the upper Nile valley of Sudan, the chestnut brown on the upper side is significantly darker, stronger and more extensive than in the neighboring subspecies niloticus . The gray of the crown is less extended towards the back and usually does not reach the nape of the neck. The beak is also smaller and the wing length slightly shorter, it is between 69 and 75 millimeters. A particularly variable population connects rufidorsalis with niloticus at Wadi Halfa . This mixed population is sometimes also called a subspecies P. d. halfae called.
      • P. d. indicus Jardine & Selby , 1831: Large parts of Arabia, southern Afghanistan , India , Sri Lanka and Burma are inhabited by this somewhat paler and, with a wing length of 70 to 78 millimeters, somewhat larger subspecies.
      • P. d. hufufae Ticehurst & Cheesman , 1924: In this population, the plumage is relatively gray, the white of the underside is more pronounced and the maroon is reduced on the wings and back. It inhabits eastern Arabia from the province of al-Hasa to Oman .
      • P. d. hyrcanus Zarudny & Kudashev , 1916: This subspecies lives in the Caspian lowlands in southern Azerbaijan and northern Iran . The back is a bit darker chestnut brown than that of indicus , the vertex is often darkly dashed because of the black central feather sections.
      • P. d. bactrianus Zarudny & Kudashev , 1916: The populations that adjoin indicus to the east are somewhat paler, the gray of the apex is not dashed dark. The occurrence includes Trans-Caspian and Central Asia .
      • P. d. parkini Whistler , 1920: This subspecies, native to the border area of ​​the Himalayas from Afghanistan to Nepal, is darker and more strongly colored on the upper side, the neck band is wider than that of bactrianus and indicus , the beak and the wing length are larger (76 to 83 millimeters). However, parkini and bactrianus cannot be reliably distinguished from one another.

    House Sparrow and Human

    For many people, the house sparrow, which seeks to be close to humans, is the epitome of the bird in general, as it is usually the first bird that you really see as a child. The relationship between humans is ambivalent and the annoying house sparrow was fought for a long time. On the other hand, it is also important to people, even if or because it is small and inconspicuous, and you can trust it with a good portion of sophistication.

    Etymology and naming

    Both the word sparrow and the pet form sparrow are derived from the Old High German “sparo”, and this is probably related to the Indo-European “spar” like “fidget”. The reason for this could be the always restless behavior of the house sparrow and also its two-legged hopping around on the ground. The English “sparrow” is derived in the same way.

    In addition, the sparrow still has a number of other names that have some local significance: His preference for seeds has given him the names grain thief , barley thief or memory thief entered. In northern Germany, depending on the region, it is called Lüning , Lüntje , Lünk or Dacklüün , which means something like "the noisy". Because of its habit of looking for grain in dung heaps and dung, it is also called dung finch . Other names are Leps and Mösche (from mussce , vulgar Latin from muscio = sparrow).

    History as a cultural follower

    More than 10,000 years ago, when people settled down and the first beginnings of agriculture, the house sparrow had already joined humans. It is also assumed that the house sparrow changed from a migrant to a stationary bird when it joined the agricultural community . It is also believed that the house sparrow has advanced northwest into Europe in line with the expansion of agriculture.

    In the course of the colonization of the other continents by the Europeans, the house sparrow became native to practically all over the world. In many cases, it is no longer possible to distinguish between natural expansions of the distribution area in the wake of people advancing into unpopulated areas and expansion after targeted importation or unintentional transport.

    The sparrow came to North America, for example, when European emigrants released around 100 birds in a cemetery in Brooklyn near New York in 1852 . After about 20 further imports from England and Germany with over 1000 birds and numerous shipments within the country, the house sparrow colonized the entire area of ​​the United States at the turn of the 20th century. The species spread faster than the star introduced later .

    Sayings, legends and literature

    Since the habitats of house sparrows and humans have long been close together, numerous idioms and legends have developed. Here, too, the negative image of the sparrow predominates. The best known are the following:

    " Ulmer Spatz " in Ulm Minster
    • Dreckspatz : The preference for dust baths has given rise to this name.
    • That sparrow / Spatzl a pet name for a (n) mistress (n), may go back to the erotic connotation.
    • Better to have the sparrow in hand than the pigeon on the roof : This is to express that one should rather be satisfied with something small and safely accessible than to desire something larger and more valuable, the availability of which is uncertain.
    • Shooting at sparrows with cannons : Should make it clear that you are putting too much effort into achieving something.
    • In Schafkopf , a sparrow is called a low, worthless card.
    • The sparrows whistle from the rooftops : It is an expression for something that is no longer a secret and that has got around everywhere.
    • Some are cheeky as a sparrow . The swearing like a fishwife , however, goes to the reed bunting back, which also Rohrspatz is called.
    • Having a sparrow brain : The sparrow, as the most famous little bird, had to be the godfather of this synonym for “being stupid or forgetful”. House sparrows, however, are even relatively intelligent birds, as they were, for example, the first birds to imitate the tits of opening milk bottles in England in the 1930s .
    • The Ulm sparrow : The sparrow is said to have acted as a source of ideas for the construction of the minster by carrying a straw lengthways in its beak after the people of Ulm had tried unsuccessfully to transport a large beam across the city gate.
    • Grimm's fairy tales know the clever sparrow in The Dog and the Sparrow and The Sparrow and His Four Children .

    There are humorous poems about the house sparrow by Wilhelm Busch , Ernst Schenke or Heinz Erhardt, for example . A cheeky sparrow also starred in the German television series Der Spatz vom Wallrafplatz , which was broadcast by WDR in the late 1960s and early 1970s .

    The sparrow as a pest

    The earlier reputation of the house sparrow as a pest is mainly due to its predilection for grains. The sparrow was also far more numerous than today until the beginning of the 20th century. In the past, this led to the organized control of the sparrows in various regions . For example, King Frederick the Great offered a bounty in the 18th century to protect the manorial fields from the sparrows. Because of the strong spread of insects caused by the decimation of the sparrows, this bounty was soon abolished.

    Increased, campaign-like activities based on often exaggerated or general damage estimates took place after the Second World War. The house sparrow was stalked by means of special traps, poison wheat or other systematic use of toxins, again supported by the offer of cash prizes. These measures resulted in a significant local decimation of the population, but the gaps were mostly closed again after two years. In southern Germany, house sparrows were sometimes killed by dynamite blasting their roosts up until the 1960s . In 1965, the DBV, the forerunner organization of NABU at the time , sold special bird feeders with the names "Kontraspatz" or "Spatznit". This should exclude the house sparrows from winter feeding, as the sparrows were seen as too much competition for the other songbirds. Much more effective, however, was the redesign of the habitat in the second half of the 20th century, which was not intended as a control measure (see population and population development ).

    Even today, the house sparrow is still sometimes considered a hygiene pest and is therefore also found in a lexicon for pests . The penetration and nesting in food markets and large kitchens is particularly problematic, since the house sparrow is considered to be a potential carrier of diseases. In Germany, the Federal Nature Conservation Act and the Food Hygiene Ordinance come into conflict, so that the legal situation is unclear when combating sparrows. The shooting of a sparrow that had flown into the hall during the preparations for Domino Day 2005, a television program on RTL and had knocked over a number of stones before the broadcast began , achieved great media coverage .

    Role in disease transmission

    House sparrows have been linked to the spread of some diseases of concern to humans or domesticated animals. Sparrows are considered to be the carrier of bacteria ( e.g. Salmonella ) or as a reservoir host in the spread of various arboviruses . The house sparrow is assumed to play a key role in the spread of a representative of this group of viruses, the St. Louis encephalitis virus in North America. The house sparrow is also associated with the West Nile virus . The characteristics of the spread of this virus in the USA have made the house sparrow suspect, alongside corvids and various migratory birds, of playing a decisive role in the spread.

    It has been proven in the laboratory that sparrows can be infected with the particularly virulent form of the H5N1 influenza virus if they only react weakly to it. Outside the laboratory, sparrows infected with massive amounts of H5N1 bird flu infected poultry holdings have so far only been discovered in East Asia .

    Despite all of this, it can be summarized that the house sparrow does not play a special role in the transmission of pathogens that are dangerous to humans. Rather, the question should be asked what effects human pathogens have on sparrow populations.

    Symbol of unchastity

    Even if house sparrows do not mate more frequently than other socially living bird species, their behavior earned them a reputation for unchastity in the Middle Ages . This was probably also due to the fact that the mating took place right in front of the eyes of the people and sparrows go to work more noisily than some other birds. It was believed at the time that sparrows could live for a year at most with so many copulations.

    The belief that sparrow meat increased the urge to love and spurred on to fornication was also widespread. Similar superstitions were described in ancient Rome and even earlier, in ancient Greece. With Aristophanes , a Greek comedy poet, the wistful women rode on sparrows from the Acropolis to their husbands. Catullus writes: "Passer, deliciae meae puellae ..." (Sparrow, darling of my friend ...).

    literature

    Web links

    Commons : House Sparrow  -Passer domesticus

    Individual evidence

    1. ↑ a b HBV Volume 14/1, P. d. domesticus. Mauser. P. 60 f.
    2. ↑ a b c d e f HBV Volume 14/1, P. d. domesticus. Behavior. Pp. 95-105.
    3. ↑ HBV Volume 14/1, P. d. domesticus, voice. Pp. 61-67.
    4. ↑ a b c d e f g h HBV Volume 14/1, P. d. domesticus. Behavior. Pp. 105-115.
    5. ↑ nature-rings.de: Whistling from the rooftops
    6. ↑ a b c HBV Volume 14/1, P. domesticus. Dissemination of Art. Pp. 46–48.
    7. ↑ a b c HBV Volume 14/1, P. d. domesticus. Biotope. Pp. 75-78.
    8. ↑ HBV Volume 14/1, P. d. domesticus. Distribution in Central Europe. Pp. 67-70.
    9. ↑ a b HBV Volume 14/1, P. d. domesticus. Hikes. Pp. 73-75.
    10. ↑ a b c Jochen Hölzinger: The birds of Baden-Württemberg. Volume 3/2, pp. 504-516.
    11. ↑ a b c d e f HBV Volume 14/1, P. d. domesticus. Reproduction. Pp. 79-89.
    12. ↑ a b HBV Volume 14/1, P. d. domesticus. Food. Pp. 115-118.
    13. ↑ a b Vogelschutz-online e. V .: House Sparrow ( Memento from June 16, 2014 in the Internet Archive )
    14. ↑ a b c HBV Volume 14/1, P. d. domesticus. Breeding success, mortality, old age. Pp. 89-94.
    15. ^ The birds of North America Online , House Sparrow
    16. ↑ Sonja Kübler: Food ecology of urban bird species along an urban gradient. Berlin 2005
    17. ↑ C. Sudfeldt, R. Dröschmeister, C. Grüneberg, S. Jaehne, A. Mitschke & J. Wahl: Birds in Germany - 2008. DDA , Münster 2008 ( online ; PDF; 8.4 MB)
    18. ↑ BirdLife International: Birds in Europe (2004) - Population development and status - Passer domesticus (PDF)
    19. ^ Landesbund für Vogelschutz (LBV): The results of the hour of winter birds . Retrieved June 20, 2013.
    20. ^ NABU Berlin: Berlin - Eldorado for sparrows
    21. ↑ a b HBV Volume 14/1, P. d. domesticus. Inventory, inventory development. Pp. 70-72.
    22. ↑ Vincent 2005, pp. 256-259 and 265-270.
    23. ↑ a b c HBV Volume 14/1, P. domesticus. Pp. 35-45.
    24. ↑ Einhard Bezzel: Compendium of the birds of Central Europe. Volume II, pp. 584-589.
    25. ↑ a b Ted. R. Anderson: Biology of the ubiquitous house sparrow. From genes to populations. Pp. 9-12; see literature
    26. ^ Till Töpfer: The taxonomic status of the Italian Sparrow - Passer italiae (Vieillot 1817): Speciation by stabilized hybridization? A critical analysis. Zotaxa 1325, 117-145. ( Summary (PDF; 19 kB))
    27. ↑ a b HBV Volume 14/1, P. domesticus. Geographical variation. Pp. 49-51.
    28. ↑ Ted. R. Anderson: Biology of the ubiquitous house sparrow. From genes to populations. P. 18 f.
    29. ^ Carl von Linné: Systema Naturae per Regna Tria Naturae, Secundum Classes, Ordines, Genera, Species, Cum Characteribus, Differentiis, Synonymis, Locis . 10th edition. tape 1 . Imprensis Direct Laurentii Salvii, Stockholm 1758, p. 183 ( biodiversitylibrary.org ).
    30. ^ Victor Jean François Loche: Exploration scientifique de l'Algérie pendant les années 1840, 1841, 1842 publiée par Ordre du Gouvernement et avec le Conciours d'une Commision Academique . Science Physiques Zoology. Arthus-Bertrand, Paris 1867, p. 132 ( biodiversitylibrary.org ).
    31. ↑ Adolf von Jordans: New races of birds from the Balearic Islands . In: Falco: magazine that appears irregularly following the work “Berajah, Zoographia infinita” . 19 (special issue), 1923, p. 3-5 ( biodiversitylibrary.org - p. 4).
    32. ↑ Ernst Hartert: The birds of the Palearctic fauna systematic overview of the birds occurring in Europe, North Asia and the Mediterranean region . tape 1 , no. 4 . R. Friedländerund Sohn, Berlin 1904, p. 149 ( biodiversitylibrary.org ).
    33. ↑ Hans Kumerloeve: On the avifauna of the Van Gölü and Hakkäri areas (E / SE Asia Minor) . In: İstanbul üniversitesi Fen fakältesi mecmuası . tape 34 , 1969, p. 245-312 ( books.google.de (extract) - p. 258).
    34. ↑ a b c Nikolai Alexejewitsch Sarudny, Prince Alexander Evgenievich Kudashev: Несколько слов о формах домашнего воробья (Passer domestica) (A few words about the house sparrow (Passer domestica)) . In: Наша охота (Our Hunt) . No. 20 , 1916, pp. 37-38 .
    35. ↑ Michael John Nicoll, John James Lewis Bonhote: Messsrs MJ Nicoll and JL Bonhote exhibited examples of a Crested Lark and a Hous-Sparrow, obtained by themselves in the Fayum, which they believed to represent hitherto undescribed races . In: Bulletin of the British Ornithologists' Club . tape 23 , no. 153 , 1909, pp. 101-102 ( biodiversitylibrary.org ).
    36. ^ Christian Ludwig Brehm: Directory of European birds according to the species and subspecies . In: Naumannia. Archive for ornithology, preferably for Europe. Organ of the German Ornithologists Association, with the participation of many ornithologists . tape 5 , no. 18 , 1855, pp. 272-300 ( biodiversitylibrary.org - p. 277).
    37. ^ William Jardine, 7th Baronet of Applegarth, Prideaux John Selby: Illustrations of Ornithology . 2 (addendum). Willizars, Edinburgh 1831 ( books.google.de - plate 118 & text).
    38. ↑ Claud Buchanan Ticehurst, Robert Ernest Cheesman: Dr. CB Ticehurst and Major RE Cheesman forwarded the following descriptions of new races from Central Arabia . In: Bulletin of the British Ornithologists' Club . tape 45 , no. 290 , 1924, pp. 19-20 ( biodiversitylibrary.org - p. 19).
    39. ^ Hugh Whistler: Dr. Ticehurst also described a new subspecies of Sparrow from Cashmere on behalf of Mr. Hugh Whistler . In: Bulletin of the British Ornithologists' Club . tape 41 , no. 253 , 1920, pp. 13-14 ( biodiversitylibrary.org ).
    40. ↑ a b NABU Germany: The house sparrow, bird of the year 2002, friend or enemy
    41. ^ Hans-Jürgen Martin, Animal and Nature, Sperlinge ( Memento from September 28, 2007 in the Internet Archive )
    42. ↑ Swiss Ornithological Institute: Birds of Switzerland. Great tit
    43. ↑ "Scold like a pipe sparrow". September 21, 2010, accessed April 11, 2019 .
    44. ↑ NABU Germany: The House Sparrow - Bird of the Year 2002 , annual bird brochure, p. 14 (PDF; 2.3 MB)
    45. ↑ Peter Berthold : Bienenfresser in Iceland, great egret in Siberia. How birds react to climate change around the world. In: Jochem Marotzke , Martin Stratmann (Hrsg.): The future of the climate. New insights, new challenges. A report from the Max Planck Society. Beck, Munich 2015, ISBN 978-3-406-66968-2 , pp. 23–34, p. 34.
    46. ↑ Mult! Clean Environmental Hygiene: Lexicon for pests. House Sparrow ( Memento from September 27, 2007 in the Internet Archive )
    47. ↑ M. Felke, B. Kleinlogel: The house sparrow - intolerable in food factories. In: The grocery letter. 11/2005
    48. ↑ a b Ted. R. Anderson: Biology of the ubiquitous house sparrow. From genes to populations. P. 427 ff.
    49. ↑ H. Rappole, Z. Hubálek: Migratory birds and West Nile virus. 2003
    50. ↑ LEL Perkins, DE Swayne: Varied Pathogenicity of a Hong Kong-origin H5N1 Avian Influenza Virus in Four Passerine Species and Budgerigars. 2003 ( Memento of September 28, 2007 in the Internet Archive ) (PDF; 975 kB)
    This article was added to the list of excellent articles on September 8, 2007 in this version .