Sparrows
In Redwall
- Alignment: Good
- Nicknames: None
- Appearance: Sparrows are one of the few species that don't wear
clothes. They look just like sparrows in our world, though they may be
a bit larger- I have no idea.
- Diet: Sparrows eat seed, worms, and perhaps other goodbeast foods.
- Habitat: All the sparrows in the Redwall books have lived on the
Redwall Abbey rooftops.
- Typical Personality: Sparrows are warriors, and very proud ones at
that. They have extremely stiff dignities.
- Habits: Sparrows insist on being called Sparra, and talk
very, very quickly. Everything is "worm" to them - mouseworm,
groundworm, and so forth. They often repeat words or blend words
together.
Outside Redwall
- Classification: Order: Passeriformes; Family: Ploceidae; Species:
Passer domesticus
- Other Names: House sparrow
- Appearance: The house sparrow is short and stocky, with short legs
and a thick bill. The back is brown with black streaks and the
underside is pale gray-brown. They are 5½-6¼" in size, with a
wingspan of 15 cm and a weight of 27-39 g.
- Diet: Most sparrows eat 60% livestock feed (corn, wheat, oats,
etc.), 18% cereals (grains from storage or from fields), 17 % weed seed, and
4% insects.
- Habitat: House sparrows are never seen in uninhabited areas.
They often nest in crevices inside and on buildings or in coniferous or
deciduous trees. Nests are built from dried vegetation, feathers,
strings, and paper.
- Typical Personality: Sparrows are aggressively territorial but only
territorial of the small area around their nest- not their feeding
grounds. They are also quite fearless, but known to be rude,
quarrelsome, and noisy.
- Habits: Sparrows forage often on the ground. They have been
seen to threaten or attack 70 different species of birds. They are
migratory and are only social when they migrate or breed.
- Life Cycle: Nests are built between February and May, and eggs are
laid any time during the nesting season. There are anywhere from 1 - 8
eggs per clutch and up to 4 clutches per season per bird. Both male
and female incubate the eggs for a few minutes at a time, switching off so
the eggs stay warm. 10 - 14 days after being laid, the eggs hatch, and
the chicks are fed by both parents through regurgitation. The
hatchlings fly after 15 days.
- Sites for Further Research:
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| A male house sparrow |
A female house sparrow |