House Sparrow

Gorrión

Passer domesticus

Length: 165 mm. Sexes slightly unlike. Male: bill dark brown above and grey to mandible; iris dark brown; forehead and centre of crown grey; sides of crown and nape chestnut brown with blackish streaks and feathers edged cinnamon; hind neck chestnut brown with feathers margined cinnamon, upper back and scapulars chestnut brown striated black; lower back and rump grey stained brown; uppertail coverts chestnut brown; tail feathers blackish brown with chestnut margins. Small white eyebrow, lores and orbital region black; auriculars pale grey; chin, throat and foreneck black with feathers margined whitish; underparts pale brownish grey to whitish on centre of breast and abdomen. Lesser wing coverts chestnut, median coverts blackish to base and a broad whitish margin, greater coverts blackish brown with chestnut margin and a whitish cinnamon terminal bar; remiges blackish brown with chestnut margin. Legs greyish brown.

Average weight: 35g. Female: bill paler than male; head all pale brown with whitish eye stripe; above cinnamon brown with dark brown striation; underparts as in male but lacks black on chin, throat and neck. Legs like male. Slightly smaller in size: 157mm. Habitat and behaviour: often near human habitation, it occurs in flocks, sometimes numerous groups. Very vocal. Although tame by nature, when it is chased it can be very wary. It moves on the ground by hopping about. The Sparrow nests under the eaves of buildings or in holes in walls where up to five eggs are laid. Eggs can be white, greenish or cream coloured with pinkish mottling. Range: introduced from Europe, it is widespread in Argentina, therefore also in Patagonia.