CreatureData

Cape sparrow

Passer melanurus (Statius Muller, 1776)

LCLeast Concernsongbirds

The cape sparrow (Passer melanurus) is a species in the family Passeridae, order Passeriformes. Recorded adults weigh 29 g to 29.8 g. Its IUCN Red List status is Least Concern.

Cape sparrow (Passer melanurus)
Photo: Derek Keats from Johannesburg, South Africa · CC BY 2.0 · Wikimedia Commons

Quick facts about the cape sparrow

Weight
29 g – 29.8 gsrc for Weight
Length
Not recorded
Lifespan
Not recorded
Diet
Granivoresrc for Diet
Main food
Not recorded
Habitat
woodlandsrc for Habitat
Young per litter or clutch
3.5src for Young per litter or clutch
Lifestyle
Terrestrialsrc for Lifestyle
Migration
Sedentarysrc for Migration
Conservation status
Least Concern (IUCN)src for Conservation status
Countries on record
Not recorded

Where does the cape sparrow live?

Not recorded

What is the cape sparrow?

Quoted from WikipediaCC BY-SA 4.0

The Cape sparrow (Passer melanurus), or mossie, is a bird of the sparrow family Passeridae found in southern Africa. A medium-sized sparrow at 14–16 centimetres (5.5–6.3 in), it has distinctive plumage, including large pale head stripes in both sexes. Its plumage is mostly grey, brown, and chestnut, and the male has some bold black and white markings on its head and neck. The species inhabits semi-arid savannah, cultivated areas, and towns, and ranges from the central coast of Angola to eastern South Africa and Eswatini. Three subspecies are distinguished in different parts of its range.

Cape sparrows primarily eat seeds, and also eat soft plant parts and insects. They typically breed in colonies, and when not breeding they gather in large nomadic flocks to move around in search of food. The nest can be constructed in a tree, a bush, a cavity, or a disused nest of another species. A typical clutch contains three or four eggs, and both parents are involved in breeding, from nest building to feeding young. The Cape sparrow is common in most of its range and coexists successfully in urban habitats with two of its relatives, the native southern grey-headed sparrow and the house sparrow, an introduced species. The Cape sparrow's population has not been recorded decreasing significantly, and it is not seriously threatened by human activities, so it is assessed as a species of least concern by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN).

From the Wikipedia article “Cape sparrow” (en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Cape_sparrow&oldid=1354828254), by Wikipedia contributors, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0 (creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0). This block is kept separate from our own text.

Is the cape sparrow endangered?

The cape sparrow is listed as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List: it is not currently at risk of extinction.

  1. LCLeast Concern
  2. NTNear Threatened
  3. VUVulnerable
  4. ENEndangered
  5. CRCritically Endangered
  6. EWExtinct in the Wild
  7. EXExtinct

Category via Wikidata (CC0). Find the full assessment on the IUCN Red List. See all Least Concern species.

How is the cape sparrow classified?

  1. kingdomAnimalia
  2. phylumChordata
  3. classAves
  4. orderPasseriformes
  5. familyPasseridae
  6. genusPasser
  7. SpeciesPasser melanurus (Statius Muller, 1776)

Synonyms Caffropasser melanura, Loxia melanura

Other names and names in other languages (37)
  • CASPEnglish
  • MossieEnglish
  • MossieEnglish
  • Gewone MossieAfrikaans
  • Kaapse MossieAfrikaans
  • دوري أسود الذيلArabic
  • pardal del CapCatalan
  • vrabec kapskýCzech
  • golfan y PenrhynWelsh
  • KapspurvDanish
  • KapsperlingGerman
  • kaba paseroEsperanto
  • Nigrakapa paseroEsperanto
  • Gorrión de El CaboSpanish
  • mustpea-varblaneEstonian
  • sirkkuvarpunenFinnish
  • Moineau du CapFrench
  • Moineau mélanureFrench
  • crnolici vrabacCroatian
  • fokföldi verébHungarian
  • Passera del CapoItalian
  • Passero del CapoItalian
  • ホオグロスズメJapanese
  • kapinis žvirblisLithuanian
  • Kaapse MusDutch
  • boerspurvNorwegian
  • wróbel czarnogłowyPolish
  • کیپ چڑیWestern Panjabi
  • pardal-do-caboPortuguese
  • Капский воробейRussian
  • Южноафриканский воробейRussian
  • vrabec čiernohlavýSlovak
  • Južnoafrički vrabacSerbian
  • boersparvSwedish
  • Kap SerçesiTurkish
  • горобець чорноголовийUkrainian
  • 南非麻雀Chinese

Catalogue of LifeWikipediaiNaturalistWikidataIUCN Red List

Relatives of the cape sparrow

Other species in the same genus Passer.

CompareCape sparrow vs House sparrowCape sparrow vs Eurasian tree sparrowCape sparrow vs Spanish sparrowCape sparrow vs Sudan golden sparrow

Common questions

Answered only where our data holds the answer.

How big is the cape sparrow?

An adult cape sparrow weighs 29 g – 29.8 g, according to values recorded on Wikidata.

Is the cape sparrow endangered?

The cape sparrow is listed as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List, meaning it is not currently at risk of extinction.

What kind of animal is the cape sparrow?

The cape sparrow (Passer melanurus) belongs to the family Passeridae in the order Passeriformes.

Sources and how to cite this page

Data as of 2026-11-11. How this page is put together.

Embed a card for this animal on your own site

Copy this code. The card shows the photo with its credit, key facts and a link back to this page.

Preview the card

APA

CreatureData. (2026). Cape sparrow (Passer melanurus). Retrieved from https://creaturedata.com/animals/cape-sparrow

MLA

“Cape sparrow (Passer melanurus).” CreatureData, 2026, https://creaturedata.com/animals/cape-sparrow.

BibTeX
@misc{cape_sparrow_2026,
  title = {Cape sparrow (Passer melanurus)},
  author = {{CreatureData}},
  year = {2026},
  url = {https://creaturedata.com/animals/cape-sparrow},
  note = {Data as of 2026-11-11}
}