Sparrows are a common sight throughout the world. They can easily be recognized because they live close to people. This bird species originated from North Africa. Unlike most birds, you can hardly spot sparrows in deserts or forests; they prefer living near humans.

Interesting Facts about Sparrows:

• Sparrows are social animals. They live in colonies referred to as flocks.
• Even though sparrows are not water birds, they can swim very fast.
• Sparrows can fly to a maximum speed of between 24 and 31 miles per hour.
• These birds adapted to living close to people due to the constant food supply. When people began to build bird feeders, they quickly learned to eat the served food.
• Sparrows have been mentioned in many manuscripts and ancient books, including the Bible.
• Although sparrows are not territorial, they aggressively protect their nests from other sparrows.

Other Fun Facts about Sparrows

• The estimated population size of sparrows is over 1.6 billion.
• A sparrow is between 4 and 8 inches long and weighs between 0.8 and 1.4 ounces.
• You can distinguish males from female sparrows by the coloration of the feathers. Females have brown backs with stripes, while the males have reddish backs and black bibs.
• By nature, sparrows are carnivores. However, when they learned to live in human settlements, they changed their eating habits to become omnivores.
• The main prey of sparrows are insects such as moths, seeds, fruits, and berries.
• Sparrows have an extra bone in their tongues, making their tongues stiff to help hold seeds.
• The main predators are cats, cats, snakes, foxes, and hawks, who target young and inexperienced sparrows.
• Female lays between 3 and 5 eggs. There is a 10-14 day incubation period. 
• In the wild, sparrows can survive 4 to 7 years.