English              -             House Sparrow

Portuguese      -             Pardal 

Portuguese      -             Passer domesticus

Thought I would champion a “not very popular bird” for this blog. Only because worldwide numbers of the House Sparrow are decreasing. So, you can say that in some places they are a pest blah, blah, blah but in the places they have become a pest they have been introduced by man and in places with no natural predators. They didn’t choose to be a pest, they were introduced to a place and they just kept doing what they do. (eat and reproduce). Anyway enough of me on my soap box. The above photos of the House Sparrow were taken when we went to a place called Cabo Frio in the state of Rio de Janeiro. It was a bright sunny day and the House Sparrows were just feeding on grass seed from a grassy bank. 

* One of the most widespread and abundant songbirds in the world today.

* The House Sparrow is a compact small bird with a length of 16 cm and weighs around 40 gr.  

* It’s call is a cheep or chirrup, mainly given by males, who repeats it incessantly to announce that they possess a nest.

* Has a world wide distribution.

* Habitat includes Cities, towns, farms. General surroundings vary, essentially always found around manmade structures, Almost never in unaltered natural habitats.

* Diet include weed and grass seeds or waste grain. Also eats some insects, especially in summer. 

* The female lays 3-6 eggs. Incubation is by both parents for 10-14 days. Young fledge 2 weeks after hatching. 

* The House Sparrow can have 2-3 broods per year.

* The House Sparrow has an extremely large range and population, and is not seriously threatened by human activities.  However, populations have been declining in many parts of the world. Declines were first noticed in North America, where they were initially attributed to the spread of the house finch but have been most severe in Western Europe. Declines have not been universal, but declines have even occurred in Australia, where the house sparrow has been introduced recently. The house sparrow is classified as a species “of least concern”.