Passer


Passer is a genus of sparrows, also known as the true sparrows. The genus includes the house sparrow and the Eurasian tree sparrow, two of the most common birds in the world. They are small birds with thick bills for eating seeds, and are mostly coloured grey or brown. Native to the Old World, some species have been introduced throughout the world.

Taxonomy

The genus Passer was introduced by the French zoologist Mathurin Jacques Brisson in 1760. The type species was subsequently designated as the house sparrow. The name Passer is the Latin word for "sparrow."
, a male house sparrow, and female house or Spanish sparrows, feeding on grain in the town of Baikonur, Kazakhstan
Studies by Arnaiz-Villena et al. have examined the evolutionary relationships of the genus Passer with other members of the family Passeridae, and of members of the genus in relation to each other. According to a study by Arnaiz Villena et al. published in 2001, the genus originated in Africa and the Cape sparrow is the most basal lineage. The particular lineages within the genus, such as the house sparrow and other Palaearctic black-bibbed sparrows, likely originate from radiations from southern and western Africa.

Species

These are the species recognised by the Handbook of the Birds of the World Alive:
ImageCommon NameScientific nameDistribution
Saxaul sparrowPasser ammodendriCentral Asia
House sparrowPasser domesticusMiddle East, Eurasia and parts of North Africa. Introduced in subarctic North America, southern South America, southern Africa, eastern Australia, New Zealand and Hawaii
Italian sparrowPasser italiaenorthern and central Italy, Corsica, and small parts of France, Switzerland, Austria, and Slovenia
Spanish sparrowPasser hispaniolensisMediterranean region, Macaronesia and south-west and central Asia
Sind sparrowPasser pyrrhonotusIndus valley region in South Asia
Somali sparrowPasser castanopterusnorthern Somalia, Djibouti, Ethiopia and Kenya.
Russet sparrowPasser cinnamomeussoutheastern Tibet, Bhutan, Sikkim, Nepal, Uttarakhand, and Himachal Pradesh to Kashmir and Nuristan in Afghanistan
Plain-backed sparrowPasser flaveolusMyanmar to central Vietnam, and south to the western part of Peninsular Malaysia
Dead Sea sparrowPasser moabiticusMiddle East and another in western Afghanistan and eastern Iran
Iago sparrowPasser iagoensisarchipelago of Cape Verde
Great sparrowPasser motitensissouthern Africa
Socotra sparrowPasser insularisislands of Socotra, Samhah, and Darsah-
Abd al-Kuri sparrowPasser hemileucusAbd al Kuri in the Socotra archipelago
Kenya sparrowPasser rufocinctusKenya and Tanzania
Shelley's sparrowPasser shelleyieastern Africa from South Sudan, southern Ethiopia, and north-western Somalia to northern Uganda and north-western Kenya
Kordofan sparrowPasser cordofanicusSouth Sudan and Chad
Cape sparrowPasser melanuruscentral coast of Angola to eastern South Africa and Swaziland
Northern grey-headed sparrowPasser griseustropical Africa
Swainson's sparrowPasser swainsoniinortheastern Africa
Parrot-billed sparrowPasser gongonensiseastern Africa
Swahili sparrowPasser suahelicussouthern Kenya and Tanzania
Southern grey-headed sparrowPasser diffususAngola and Zambia southwards into South Africa
Desert sparrowPasser simplexSahara Desert of northern Africa
Zarudny's sparrowPasser zarudnyiUzbekistan and Turkmenistan
Eurasian tree sparrowPasser montanusTemperate Eurasia and Southeast Asia. Introduced in Sardinia, eastern Indonesia, the Philippines, Micronesia, Victoria and New South Wales in Australia and the U.S. states of Missouri, Illinois and Iowa.
Sudan golden sparrowPasser luteussub-Saharan Africa
Arabian golden sparrowPasser euchlorussouth west Arabia and also the coast of Somalia and Djibouti
Chestnut sparrowPasser eminibeyDarfur in Sudan to Tanzania

Besides these living species, there are questionable fossils from as long ago as the Early Miocene, and Passer predomesticus, from the Middle Pleistocene.

Description

These sparrows are plump little brown or greyish birds, often with black, yellow or white markings. Typically long, they range in size from the chestnut sparrow, at and, to the parrot-billed sparrow, at and. They have strong, stubby conical beaks with decurved culmens and blunter tips. All species have calls similar to the house sparrow's chirrup or tschilp call, and some, though not the house sparrow, have elaborate songs.

Distribution

Most of its members are found naturally in open habitats in the warmer climates of Africa and southern Eurasia. Evolutionary studies suggest the genus originated in Africa. Several species have adapted to human habitation, and this has enabled the house sparrow in particular, in close association with humans, to extend its Eurasian range well beyond what was probably its original home in the Middle East. Apart from this natural colonisation, the house sparrow has been introduced to many parts of the world outside its natural range, including the Americas, sub-Saharan Africa, and Australia. The Eurasian tree sparrow has also been artificially introduced on a smaller scale, with populations in Australia and locally in Missouri and Illinois in the United States.

Behaviour

Passer sparrows build an untidy nest, which, depending on species and nest site availability, may be in a bush or tree, a natural hole in a tree, in a building or in thatch, or in the fabric of the nest of species such as the white stork. The clutch of up to eight eggs is incubated by both parents typically for 12–14 days, with another 14–24 more days to fledging.
Passer sparrows are primarily ground-feeding seed-eaters, though they also consume small insects especially when breeding. A few species, like the house sparrow and northern grey-headed sparrow scavenge for food around cities, and are almost omnivorous. Most Passer species are gregarious and will form substantial flocks.