About House Sparrow...

House Sparrow

(Passer Domesticus)

Today we will get familiar with a very familiar bird - House Sparrow. 

 We all must have seen this cute little bird around our house and garden since childhood, but how much do we know about it???

We here in Maharashtra know this bird as "chimnee". This bold bird is closely linked to human being. One of the first  birds to visit a bird - feeder. Sparrows freely mix with Bulbuls, White - eyes, Munias etc. 

• Male - White cheeks. Black throat and chest. Back of head chestnut, extending to eye. Gray cap. Bill black. Broad, white upper wingbar. Back feathers edged with chestnut. Underparts whitish gray. In winter, the black bib is hidden by pale tips to the breast feathers that eventually wear off and reveal the black. 
  

• Female - Dingy brown all over. Unstriped gray brown chest and underparts. Large pale yellowish eyestripe. Black and straw-colored stripes on back. Bill yellowish. Eyes black. Crown plain gray brown.
  

• Nesting - Nesting sites are Wall hole, under the roof and any place in the house where nesting material can be placed and eggs can be laid. They nest throughout the year and parental responsibilities are carried equally by both male and female. At a time about 3-5 eggs of greenish - white color with brown spots are laid.
  

• Cultural Notes - Sparrows are extensively featured in nursery Rhymes. In Rigveda, a reference is made to a sparrow injured by a wolf, which was treated by Ashwinikumar twins, the physicians of God.
  

• Status - Though commonly seen around human habitation number of this little bird is Declining currently.  Save this beautiful species from vanishing. 
  

• House Sparrow Call - A Familiar chirping call when feeding or Roosting. Breeding male sings Tsi - tsi, Chip, Chip, Chew, Cheer when displaying with flapping wings.
  

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