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The "true sparrows", the
Old
World sparrows in the family Passeridae, are small
passerine
birds. Generally, sparrows tend to be small, plump brown-grey birds
with short tails and stubby yet powerful
beaks. The
differences between sparrow species can be subtle. They are primarily
seed-eaters,
though they also consume small
insects.
A few species scavenge for food around cities and, like
gulls or
pigeons, will happily eat virtually anything in small quantities.
This family ranges in size from the
Chestnut Sparrow
(Passer eminibey), at 11.4 cm (4.5 inches)
and 13.4 g., to the
Parrot-billed Sparrow
(Passer gongonensis), at 18 cm (7
inches) and 42 g. (1.5 oz). The Old World true sparrows are found
indigenously in
Europe,
Africa
and
Asia.
In
Australia and
the Americas, early settlers imported some species which quickly
naturalised, particularly in urban and degraded areas.
House Sparrows, for example, are now found throughout
North America, in every state of Australia except
Western Australia, and over much of the heavily populated parts of
South America.
Some authorities also classify the closely related
estrildid finches of the equatorial regions and
Australasia as members of the Passeridae. Like the true 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.
About 140 species are native to the old world
tropics
and Australasia. Most
taxonomic schemes list the estrildid finches as the separate family
Estrildidae, leaving just the true sparrows in Passeridae.
American sparrows, or
New
World sparrows, are not closely related to the true sparrows,
despite some physical resemblance, such as the seed-eater's bill and
frequently well-marked heads. They are in the family
Emberizidae.
The Hedge Sparrow or
Dunnock
(Prunella modularis) is similarly unrelated. It is a sparrow in
name only, a relic of the old practice of calling any small bird
a "sparrow".
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