House Sparrow

The house sparrow is a small, stocky songbird native to most of Europe, the Mediterranean region and much of Asia, and one of the most widely distributed wild birds on Earth after being introduced to the Americas, Australia and many other regions, largely following human settlement. Males have a grey crown, black bib and chestnut-streaked back, while females and young birds are a plainer sandy brown. Highly adapted to living alongside people, house sparrows nest in the crevices of buildings, feed on seeds, grain and scraps, and are a familiar sight in cities, towns and farmland across much of the world. Although still abundant globally, populations have declined sharply in parts of western Europe over recent decades for reasons that remain only partly understood.