House Sparrow

I've done two previous posts on the house sparrow, on October 21, 2020, for some house sparrows I saw outside of Denver, Colorado; and on November 9, 2020, one I saw in Coachella, California. As one of the most common birds in the world I've shaken my head wondering why I've not seen more of them.  

This range map is from Birds of the World. I believe it must be the original range as it does not include North or South America. 

It was originally native to Eurasia from the British Isles to northern Siberia and south to northern Africa, Arabia, India and Burma. It has been introduced everywhere else in the world, including South America, South Africa, Australia and New Zealand, and the introduced birds are usually the nominate subspecies. They were originally introduced into North America by 100 birds purchased from England and released in Booklyn, New York in the fall of 1851. Other isolated introductions included San Francisco in 1871 to 1872 and Salt Lake City in 1873 to 1874.   

This is an illustration of the nominate subspecies female from Birds of the World and below is the nominate subspecies male. 

The male, particularly, is a beautiful bird. 

In Central Park in NYC in May 2023.

A female near the Concho River in San Angelo, Texas.

This and the following four photos are from San Angelo State Park in 2021.

This and the following 6 photos are from Nuremberg, Germany in May 2025. 

This photo from the back shows the gray stripe on the top of the head which helps identify it.