Editing Old World sparrow

{{Short description|Family of songbirds}}
{{About|Old World sparrows|New World sparrows|New World sparrow||Sparrow (disambiguation)}}
{{Automatic taxobox
| image = House sparrow male in Prospect Park (53532).jpg
| image_caption = Male [[house sparrow]] (''Passer domesticus'')
| display_parents = 3
| taxon = Passeridae
| authority = [[Constantine Samuel Rafinesque|Rafinesque]], 1815
| type_genus = ''[[Passer]]''
| type_genus_authority = [[Mathurin Jacques Brisson|Brisson]], 1760
| subdivision_ranks = Genera
| subdivision = * ''[[Hypocryptadius]]''
* ''[[Carpospiza]]''
* ''[[Petronia]]''
* ''[[Onychostruthus]]''
* ''[[Montifringilla]]''
* ''[[Pyrgilauda]]''
* ''[[Gymnoris]]''
* ''[[Passer]]''
}}

'''Old World sparrows''' are a group of small [[passerine]] [[bird]]s forming the [[family (biology)|family]] '''Passeridae'''. They are also known as '''true sparrows''', a name also used for a particular [[genus]] of the family, ''[[Passer]]''.<ref>{{harvnb|Summers-Smith|2005|p=17}}</ref> They are distinct from both the [[New World sparrow]]s, in the family [[Passerellidae]], and from a few other birds sharing their name, such as the [[Java sparrow]] of the family [[Estrildidae]]. Many species nest on buildings and the [[House sparrow|house]] and [[Eurasian tree sparrow]]s, in particular, inhabit cities in large numbers. They are primarily [[seed predation|seed-eaters]], though they also consume small [[insect]]s. Some species scavenge for food around cities and, like [[rock dove|pigeons]] or [[gull]]s, will eat small quantities of a diversity of items.

==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/>

==Taxonomy and systematics==
[[File:Sparrowchick.JPG|thumb|upright|A sparrow chick]]
[[File:MontifringillaAdamsiGould.jpg|thumb|upright|Painting of [[black-winged snowfinch]]es]]

The family Passeridae was introduced (as Passernia) by the French [[polymath]] [[Constantine Samuel Rafinesque]] in 1815.<ref>{{ cite book | last=Rafinesque | first=Constantine Samuel | author-link=Constantine Samuel Rafinesque | year=1815 | title=Analyse de la nature ou, Tableau de l'univers et des corps organisés | volume=1815 | publisher=Self-published | place=Palermo | language=fr | page=68 | url=https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/48310146 }}</ref><ref>{{cite book | last=Bock | first=Walter J. | year=1994 | title=History and Nomenclature of Avian Family-Group Names | series=Bulletin of the American Museum of Natural History | volume= 222 | publisher=American Museum of Natural History | place=New York | pages=157, 252 | hdl=2246/830 }}<!--Linked page allows download of the 48MB pdf--></ref> Under the classification used in the ''[[Handbook of the Birds of the World]]'' (''HBW'') main groupings of the sparrows are the true sparrows (genus ''[[Passer]]''), the [[snowfinch]]es (typically one genus, ''Montifringilla''), and the rock sparrows (''[[Petronia]]'' and the [[pale rockfinch]]). These groups are similar to each other, and are each fairly homogeneous, especially ''Passer''.<ref name=HBW/> Some classifications also include the sparrow-weavers (''[[Plocepasser]]'') and several other African genera (otherwise classified among the [[weaver (bird)|weavers]], Ploceidae)<ref name=HBW/> which are morphologically similar to ''Passer''.<ref name="Fjeldså"/> According to a study of molecular and skeletal evidence by [[Jon Fjeldså]] and colleagues, the [[cinnamon ibon]] of the Philippines, previously considered to be a [[white-eye]], is a sister taxon to the sparrows as defined by the ''HBW''. They therefore classify it as its own subfamily within Passeridae.<ref name="Fjeldså">{{Cite journal | last1 = Fjeldså | first1 = J. | last2 = Irestedt | first2 = M. | last3 = Ericson | first3 = P. G. P. | last4 = Zuccon | first4 = D. | title = The Cinnamon Ibon ''Hypocryptadius cinnamomeus'' is a forest canopy sparrow | doi = 10.1111/j.1474-919X.2010.01053.x | journal = Ibis | volume = 152 | issue = 4 | pages = 747–760 | year = 2010 | url = http://www.nrm.se/download/18.3ebfe5cf12a9d3ebacb80004366/Fjelds%C3%A5+et+al+2010+Cinnamon.pdf | access-date = 2015-09-04 | archive-date = 2017-08-10 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20170810015706/http://www.nrm.se/download/18.3ebfe5cf12a9d3ebacb80004366/Fjelds%C3%A5%20et%20al%202010%20Cinnamon.pdf | url-status = dead }}</ref>

Many early classifications of the Old World sparrows placed them as close relatives of the weavers among the various families of small seed-eating birds, based on the similarity of their breeding behaviour, bill structure, and moult, among other characters. Some, starting with P. P. Suskin in the 1920s, placed the sparrows in the weaver family as the subfamily Passerinae, and tied them to ''Plocepasser''. Another family sparrows were classed with was the [[finch]]es (Fringillidae).<ref name=HBW/>

Some authorities previously classified the related [[estrildid finch]]es of the Old World [[tropics]] and [[Australasia]] as members of the Passeridae. Like sparrows, the estrildid finches are small, gregarious and often colonial seed-eaters with short, thick, but pointed bills. They are broadly similar in structure and habits, but tend to be very colourful and vary greatly in their [[plumage]]. The 2008 Christidis and Boles [[Taxonomy (biology)|taxonomic]] scheme lists the estrildid finches as the separate family Estrildidae, leaving just the true sparrows{{Clarify|date=May 2012}}<!-- meaning just Passer? --> in Passeridae.<ref name=CB08>{{harvnb|Christidis|Boles|2008|p=177}}</ref>

Despite some resemblance such as the seed-eater's bill and frequently well-marked heads, [[New World sparrow]]s  are members of a different family, [[Passerellidae]], with 29 genera recognised.<ref>{{cite web| editor1-last=Gill | editor1-first=Frank | editor1-link=Frank Gill (ornithologist) | editor2-last=Donsker | editor2-first=David | editor3-last=Rasmussen | editor3-first=Pamela | editor3-link=Pamela Rasmussen | date=January 2021 | title=New World Sparrows, Bush Tanagers | work=IOC World Bird List Version 11.1 | url=https://www.worldbirdnames.org/bow/sparrows/ | publisher=International Ornithologists' Union | access-date=2 June 2021 }}</ref> Several species in this family are notable singers. New World sparrows are related to Old World buntings, and until 2017, were included in the Old World bunting family [[Emberizidae]].<ref>American Ornithologists' Union. 1998. ''Check-list of North American Birds''. 7th edition. American Ornithologists' Union, Washington, D.C.</ref><ref name=AOS>{{cite journal |title=Fifty-eighth supplement to the American Ornithological Society's Check-list of North American Birds |author1=R. Terry Chesser |author2=Kevin J. Burns |author3=Carla Cicero |author4=Jon L. Dunn |author5=Andrew W. Kratter |author6=Irby J. Lovette |author7=Pamela C. Rasmussen |author8=J. V. Remsen Jr. |author9=James D. Rising |author10=Douglas F. Stotz |author11=Kevin Winker |journal=Auk |volume=134 |issue=3 |year=2017 |pages=751–773 |doi=10.1642/AUK-17-72.1 |type=Submitted manuscript |doi-access=free }}{{dead link|date=May 2018 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref>
<ref name=HBW/> The [[hedge sparrow]] or dunnock (''Prunella modularis'') is similarly unrelated. It is a sparrow in name only, a [[relict]] of the old practice of calling more types of small birds "sparrows".<ref>{{harvnb|Summers-Smith|1988|p=13}}</ref> A few further bird species are also called sparrows, such as the [[Java sparrow]], an estrildid finch.

{{Cladogram
|caption=Phylogeny based on a study by Martin Päckert and colleagues published in 2021. The [[monotypic]] genera ''[[Carpospiza]]'' and ''[[Hypocryptadius]]'' were not sampled.<ref>{{Cite journal | last1=Päckert | first1=M. | last2=Hering | first2=J. | last3=Belkacem | first3=A.A. | last4=Sun | first4=Y.-H. | last5=Hille | first5=S. | last6=Lkhagvasuren | first6=D. | last7=Islam | first7=S. | last8=Martens | first8=J. | date=2021 | title=A revised multilocus phylogeny of Old World sparrows (Aves: Passeridae) | journal=Vertebrate Zoology | volume=71 | pages=353–366 | doi=10.3897/vz.71.e65952 | doi-access=free }}</ref>
|align=centre
|cladogram={{Clade| style=font-size:100%;line-height:100%;width:420px; 
|label1=Passeridae
|1={{clade
   |1={{clade
      |1={{clade
         |1=''[[Gymnoris]]'' – 4 species
         |2=''[[Passer]]'' – 28 species
         }}
      |2={{clade
         |1=''[[Petronia]]'' – [[rock sparrow]]
         |2={{clade
            |1=''[[Onychostruthus]]'' – [[white-rumped snowfinch]]
            |2={{clade
               |1=''[[Montifringilla]]'' – 3 species
               |2=''[[Pyrgilauda]]'' – 4 species
               }}
            }}
         }}
      }}
   }}
}}
}}

=== Species ===
The family contains 43 [[species]] divided into eight genera:<ref name=ioc>{{cite web| editor1-last=Gill | editor1-first=Frank | editor1-link=Frank Gill (ornithologist) | editor2-last=Donsker | editor2-first=David | year=2018 | title=Old World sparrows, snowfinches, weavers | work=World Bird List Version 8.1 | url=http://www.worldbirdnames.org/bow/weavers/ | publisher=International Ornithologists' Union | access-date=8 May 2018 }}</ref>

{| class="wikitable"
|-
! Image !! Genus  !! Living species
|-
|[[File:Cinnamon Ibon (cropped2).jpg|120px]]
|''[[Hypocryptadius]]''  || 
*[[Cinnamon ibon]] (''Hypocryptadius cinnamomeus'')
|-
|[[File:Carpospiza brachydactyla (cropped).jpg|120px]]
|''[[Carpospiza]]''
|
*[[Pale rockfinch]] (''Carpospiza brachydactyla'')
|-
|[[File:Petronia petronia -Ariege, Midi-Pyrenee, France-8-4c.jpg|120px]]
|''[[Petronia]]''
|
*[[Rock sparrow]] (''Petronia petronia'')
|-
|[[File:White-rumped Snowfinch north Sikkim India 15.10.2019.jpg|120px]]
|''[[Onychostruthus]]''
|
*[[White-rumped snowfinch]] (''Onychostruthus taczanowskii'')
|-
|[[File:A Tibetan Snowfinch juvenile - Tso Moriri, Ladakh, Jammu Kashmir India.jpg|120px]]
|''[[Montifringilla]]''
|
*[[Tibetan snowfinch]] (''Montifringilla henrici'')
*[[White-winged snowfinch]] (''Montifringilla nivalis'')
*[[Black-winged snowfinch]] (''Montifringilla adamsi'')
|-
|[[File:Rufous-necked Snowfinch Pangolakha Wildlife Sanctuary East Sikkim India 18.10.2015.jpg|120px]]
|''[[Pyrgilauda]]''
|
*[[Afghan snowfinch]] (''Pyrgilauda theresae'')
*[[Rufous-necked snowfinch]] (''Pyrgilauda ruficollis'')
*[[Père David's snowfinch]] (''Pyrgilauda davidiana'')
*[[Blanford's snowfinch]] (''Pyrgilauda blanfordi'')
|-
|[[File:Chestnut-shouldered petronia IMG 4865.jpg|120px]]
|''[[Gymnoris]]''
|
*[[Yellow-spotted bush sparrow]] (''Gymnoris pyrgita'')
*[[Yellow-throated bush sparrow]] (''Gymnoris superciliaris'')
*[[Sahel bush sparrow]] (''Gymnoris dentata'')
*[[Yellow-throated sparrow]] (''Gymnoris xanthocollis'')
|-
|[[File:Passer domesticus male (15).jpg|120px]]|| ''[[Passer]]'', the true sparrows ||
*[[Cape sparrow]] (''Passer melanurus'')
*[[Chestnut sparrow]] (''Passer eminibey'')
*[[Kordofan sparrow]] (''Passer cordofanicus'')
*[[Shelley's sparrow]] (''Passer shelleyi'')
*[[Kenya sparrow]] (''Passer rufocinctus'')
*[[Great sparrow]] (''Passer motitensis'')
*[[Northern grey-headed sparrow]] (''Passer griseus'')
*[[Swainson's sparrow]] (''Passer swainsonii'')
*[[Swahili sparrow]] (''Passer suahelicus'')
*[[Parrot-billed sparrow]] (''Passer gongonensis'')
*[[Southern grey-headed sparrow]] (''Passer diffusus'')
*[[Sind sparrow]] (''Passer pyrrhonotus'')
*[[Russet sparrow]] (''Passer cinnamomeus'')
*[[Eurasian tree sparrow]] (''Passer montanus'')
*[[Saxaul sparrow]] (''Passer ammodendri'')
*[[Plain-backed sparrow]] (''Passer flaveolus'')
*[[Abd al-Kuri sparrow]] (''Passer hemileucus'')
*[[Socotra sparrow]] (''Passer insularis'')
*[[Spanish sparrow]] (''Passer hispaniolensis'')
*[[Italian sparrow]] (''Passer italiae'')
*[[House sparrow]] (''Passer domesticus'')
*[[Somali sparrow]] (''Passer castanopterus'')
*[[Iago sparrow]] (''Passer iagoensis'')
*[[Desert sparrow]] (''Passer simplex'')
*[[Zarudny's sparrow]] (''Passer zarudnyi'')
*[[Arabian golden sparrow]] (''Passer euchlorus'')
*[[Sudan golden sparrow]] (''Passer luteus'')
*[[Dead Sea sparrow]] (''Passer moabiticus'')
|-
|}

== Distribution and habitat ==
[[File:Beytika bicûk nêr.jpg|thumb|A male [[Dead Sea sparrow]] in southeastern Turkey]]

The Old World sparrows are indigenous to Europe, Africa and Asia. In the [[Americas]], Australia, and other parts of the world, settlers imported some species which quickly naturalised, particularly in urban and degraded areas. House sparrows, for example, are now found throughout North America, Australia (every state except [[Western Australia]]), parts of southern and eastern Africa, and over much of the heavily populated parts of South America.<ref name=HBW>{{cite book|first=J. Denis|last=Summers-Smith|editor=del Hoyo, Josep |editor2=Elliott, Andrew |editor3=Christie, David|contribution=Family Passeridae (Old World Sparrows)|title=Handbook of the Birds of the World. Volume 14: Bush-shrikes to Old World Sparrows|year=2009|location=Barcelona|publisher=Lynx Edicions|isbn=978-84-96553-50-7|title-link=Handbook of the Birds of the World}}</ref>

The Old World sparrows are generally birds of open habitats, including [[grasslands]], [[deserts]], and [[scrubland]]. The snowfinches and ground-sparrows are all species of high latitudes. A few species, like the Eurasian tree sparrow, inhabit open [[woodland]].<ref name=HBW/> The aberrant [[cinnamon ibon]] has the most unusual habitat of the family, inhabiting the canopy of [[cloud forest]] in the Philippines.<ref name="Fjeldså"/>

== Behaviour and ecology ==
Old World sparrows are generally social birds, with many species breeding in loose colonies and most species occurring in flocks during the non-breeding season. The [[great sparrow]] is an exception, breeding in solitary pairs and remaining only in small family groups in the non-breeding season. They form large roosting aggregations in the non-breeding seasons that contain only a single species (in contrast to multi-species flocks that might gather for foraging). Sites are chosen for cover and include trees, thick bushes and reed beds. The assemblages can be quite large with up to 10,000 house sparrows counted in one roost in Egypt.<ref name=HBW/>

The Old World sparrows are some of the few passerine birds that engage in [[dust bath]]ing. They will first scratch a hole in the ground with their feet, then lie in it and fling dirt or sand over their bodies with flicks of their wings. They will also bathe in water, or in dry or melting snow. Water bathing is similar to dust bathing, with the sparrow standing in shallow water and flicking water over its back with its wings, also ducking its head under the water. Both activities are social, with up to a hundred birds participating at once, and is followed by preening and sometimes group singing.<ref name=HBW/>

<gallery widths="200px" heights="200px">
File:Passer luteus flock Red Sea Sudan.jpg|[[Sudan golden sparrow]]s, seen here on the [[Red Sea]] coast of [[Sudan]], are highly gregarious outside of the breeding season.
File:Sparrows_bathing.ogv|House sparrows water bathing near [[Black Sea]] in [[Batumi]], [[Georgia (country)|Georgia]]
</gallery>

=== Eggs ===
The house sparrow typically lays 3-6 eggs, but has been known to lay as few as 1 and as many as 8 greenish-white eggs. The incubation period is typically 10–14 days.<ref>{{cite web |title=Hoiuse Sparrow |url=https://www.audubon.org/field-guide/bird/house-sparrow |website=Aububon.ordg|date=13 November 2014 }}</ref>

== Relationships with humans ==
[[File:Sparrows being fed in front of Notre-Dame Cathedrale.jpg|thumb|House sparrows being fed [[brioche]] in front of [[Notre-Dame Cathedral]] in [[Paris]].]]

Old World sparrows may be the most familiar of all wild birds worldwide.<ref name=Firefly>{{cite book | last1 = Clement | first1 = Peter | last2 = Colston | first2 = P. R. | year = 2003 | chapter = Sparrows and Snowfinches | editor = Perrins, Christopher | editor-link = Chris Perrins | title = The Firefly Encyclopedia of Birds | publisher = Firefly Books | pages = [https://archive.org/details/fireflyencyclope0000unse/page/590 590–591] | isbn = 978-1-55297-777-4 | chapter-url = https://archive.org/details/fireflyencyclope0000unse/page/590 }}</ref> Many species commonly live in agricultural areas, and for several, human settlements are a primary habitat. The Eurasian tree and house sparrows are particularly specialised in living around humans and inhabit cities in large numbers. 17 of the 26 species recognised by the ''Handbook of the Birds of the World'' are known to nest on and feed around buildings.<ref name=HBW/>

Grain-eating species, in particular the house and Sudan golden sparrows, can be significant agricultural [[pest (organism)|pest]]s. They can be beneficial to humans as well, especially by eating insect pests. Attempts at large-scale control have failed to affect populations significantly, or have been accompanied by major increases in insect attacks probably resulting from a reduction of numbers, as in the [[Four Pests Campaign|Great Sparrow Campaign]] in 1950s China.<ref name=HBW/>

Because of their familiarity, the house sparrow and other species of the family are frequently used to represent the common and vulgar, or the lewd.<ref name="NN 49, 215"/> Birds usually described later as Old World sparrows are referred to in many works of ancient literature and religious texts in Europe and western Asia. These references may not always refer specifically to Old World sparrows, or even to small, seed-eating birds, but later writers who were inspired by these texts often had the house sparrow and other members of the family in mind. In particular, Old World sparrows were associated by the ancient Greeks with [[Aphrodite]], the goddess of love, due to their perceived lustfulness, an association echoed by later writers such as [[Chaucer]] and [[Shakespeare]].<ref name=HBW/><ref name="NN 49, 215"/><ref>{{cite encyclopedia|last=Shipley|first=A. E.|author-link=Arthur Shipley|title=Sparrow|encyclopedia=[[Encyclopaedia Biblica]]|volume=4|url=https://archive.org/stream/encyclopaediabib04cheyuoft#page/n413/mode/2up/|editor=Cheyne, Thomas Kelley |editor2=Black, J. Sutherland|year=1899|publisher=Toronto : Morang}}</ref>

Jesus's use of "sparrows" as an example of divine providence in the [[Gospel of Matthew]]<ref>{{bibleverse|Matthew|10:29-31|KJV}}</ref> also inspired later references, such as that in the final scene of Shakespeare's ''[[Hamlet]]''<ref name="NN 49, 215"/> and the [[Gospel music|Gospel]] [[hymn]] "[[His Eye Is on the Sparrow]]".<ref>{{harvnb|Todd|2012|pp=56–58}}</ref>

<div><!-- division to keep embedded hieroglyphs within text -->Sparrows are represented in ancient Egyptian art very rarely, but an [[Egyptian hieroglyph]] <hiero>G37</hiero> is based on the house sparrow. The symbol had no phonetic value and was used as a determinative in words to indicate ''small'', ''narrow'', or ''bad''.<ref>{{harvnb|Houlihan|Goodman|1986|pp=136–137}}</ref></div>

Old World sparrows have been kept as pets at many times in history, even though most are not particularly colourful and their songs are unremarkable.{{Citation needed|date=July 2021}} They are also difficult to keep, as pet sparrows must be raised by hand and a considerable amount of insects are required to feed them. Nevertheless, many people succeed at hand-raising orphaned or abandoned baby sparrows.<ref>{{cite web | url=http://www.starlingtalk.com | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20011117013303/http://www.starlingtalk.com/ | url-status=usurped | archive-date=November 17, 2001 | title=Starling Talk: The Care and Feeding of Injured and Orphaned Starlings}}</ref>

The earliest mentions of pet sparrows are from the Romans. Not all the ''passeri'' mentioned, often as pets, in Roman literature were necessarily sparrows, but some accounts of them clearly describe their appearance and habits<!-- need to find source for last part -->.<ref name="OS&M-pets">{{harvnb|Summers-Smith|2005|pp= 29–35}}</ref> The pet ''passer'' of [[Lesbia]] in [[Catullus]]'s poems may not have been a sparrow, but a [[thrush (bird)|thrush]] or [[European goldfinch]]. [[John Skelton (poet)|John Skelton]]'s ''The Boke of Phyllyp Sparowe'' is a lament for a pet house sparrow belonging to a Jane Scrope, narrated by Scrope.<ref name=HBW/><ref name="NN 49, 215">{{harvnb|Summers-Smith|1963|pp=49, 215}}</ref><ref name="OS&M-pets"/><ref>{{cite book|chapter-url=https://www.academia.edu/1052805|title=A Dictionary of Literary Symbols|chapter=Sparrow|year=2007|author=Ferber, Michael|publisher=Cambridge University Press|access-date=2017-11-01|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130724032553/http://www.academia.edu/1052805/A_DICTIONARY_OF_LITERARY_SYMBOLS_By_Michael_Ferber|archive-date=2013-07-24|url-status=dead}}</ref>

== References ==
=== Citations ===
{{Reflist|30em}}

=== Works cited ===
{{refbegin}}
*{{cite book |title=Systematics and Taxonomy of Australian Birds|last1=Christidis|first1= L.|last2= Boles|first2= W. E. |year=2008 |publisher=CSIRO Publishing |location=Canberra |isbn=978-0-643-06511-6 }}
*{{Cite book|last1=Houlihan|first1=Patrick E.|last2=Goodman|first2=Steven M.|year=1986|title=The Natural History of Egypt, Volume I: The Birds of Ancient Egypt|publisher=Aris & Philips|isbn=978-0-85668-283-4|location=Warminster}}
*{{Cite book|last=Summers-Smith|first=J. Denis|title=The House Sparrow|publisher=Collins|series=New Naturalist|edition=1st.|year=1963|location=London|isbn=<!-- none -->}}
*{{Cite book|last=Summers-Smith|first=J. Denis|year=1988|others=illustrated by Robert Gillmor|title=The Sparrows|publisher=T. & A. D. Poyser|location=Calton, Staffs, England|isbn=978-0-85661-048-6|url=https://archive.org/details/sparrowsstudyofg0000summ}}
*{{cite book|last=Summers-Smith|first=J. Denis|year=2005|title=On Sparrows and Man: A Love-Hate Relationship|location=Guisborough (Cleveland)|isbn=978-0-9525383-2-5}}
*{{cite book|last=Todd|first=Kim|year=2012|title=Sparrow|series=Animal|publisher=Reaktion Books|isbn=978-1-86189-875-3}}
{{refend}}

== External links ==
{{Commons category|Passeridae}}
{{EB1911 poster|Sparrow}}
* [http://ibc.lynxeds.com/family/old-world-sparrows-passeridae Passeridae] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160314093316/http://ibc.lynxeds.com/family/old-world-sparrows-passeridae |date=2016-03-14 }} at the Internet Bird Collection

{{Passeridae}}
{{Birds in culture}}
{{Taxonbar|from=Q28922}}
{{Authority control}}

[[Category:Passeridae|*]]
[[Category:Articles containing video clips]]
[[Category:Taxa named by Constantine Samuel Rafinesque]]