Editing Old World sparrow (section)

==Description==
[[File:Passer domesticus male head (Germany).jpg|thumb|Male house sparrow in Germany]]
[[File:Chestnut-shouldered Petronia (Petronia xanthocollis) at Bharatpur I IMG 5262.jpg|thumb|right|[[Yellow-throated sparrow]] at [[Keoladeo National Park]], India]]
[[File:Birds in Tharparkar.jpg|alt=Sparrow in Tharparkar, Sindh|thumb|Sparrow in [[Tharparkar]], Sindh ]]
Generally, Old World sparrows are small, plump, brown and grey birds with short tails and stubby, powerful [[beak]]s. The differences between sparrow species can be subtle. Members of this family range in size from the [[chestnut sparrow]] (''Passer eminibey''), at {{convert|11.4|cm|in}} and {{convert|13.4|g|oz}}, to the [[parrot-billed sparrow]] (''Passer gongonensis''), at {{convert|18|cm|in}} and {{convert|42|g|oz}}. Sparrows are physically similar to other seed-eating birds, such as [[finch]]es, but have a vestigial dorsal outer [[flight feather|primary wing feather]] and an extra bone in the tongue.<ref name=EoB>{{cite book |editor=Forshaw, Joseph|author1=Bledsoe, A. H. |author2=Payne, R. B. |year=1991|title=Encyclopaedia of Animals: Birds|publisher= [[Merehurst Press]] |location=London|pages= 222|isbn= 978-1-85391-186-6}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|last1=Clement|first1=Peter|last2=Harris|first2=Alan|last3=Davis|first3=John|title = Finches and Sparrows: an Identification Guide|publisher=Princeton University Press|year=1993|location=Princeton, New Jersey|isbn=978-0-691-03424-9}}</ref> This bone, the preglossale, helps stiffen the tongue when holding seeds. Other adaptations for eating seeds are specialised bills and elongated and specialised [[alimentary canal]]s.<ref name=HBW/>