# House sparrow (*Passer domesticus*)

Canonical page: https://creaturedata.com/animals/house-sparrow  
Data as of: 2026-11-11

The house sparrow (Passer domesticus) is a small bird in the family Passeridae, part of the songbirds and other perching birds in the order Passeriformes. Adults weigh 26.5 g as a representative value, from 25 to 36 g, and have a wingspan of 23.45 cm, from 21 to 25 cm. It is a terrestrial, sedentary granivore of human-modified land, with a geographic range of 34,410,000 km². The house sparrow is listed as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List, which is not a threatened category.

## Quick facts

| Fact | Value |
|---|---|
| Weight | 25 g – 36 g |
| Length | 16 cm |
| Wingspan | 21 cm – 25 cm |
| Lifespan | 17.7 years |
| Diet | Granivore |
| Longest recorded lifespan | 23 years |
| Main food | seeds |
| Habitat | human_modified |
| Egg incubation | 11.8 days |
| Young per litter or clutch | 2 – 7 |
| Age at maturity | 6 months – 12 months |
| Litters or clutches a year | 3.25 |
| Lifestyle | Terrestrial |
| Migration | Sedentary |
| Conservation status | Least Concern (IUCN) |
| Countries on record | Not recorded |

## Classification

- kingdom: Animalia
- phylum: Chordata
- class: Aves
- order: Passeriformes
- family: Passeridae
- genus: Passer
- species: *Passer domesticus* (Linnaeus, 1758)

Synonyms: *Fringilla domestica*, *Passer domesitcus*, *Passer domesticua*

## Common questions

### How big is a house sparrow?

The house sparrow is a small bird with a wingspan of 23.45 cm, from 21 to 25 cm. Adults weigh 26.51 g, from 25 to 36 g.

### What does the house sparrow eat?

The house sparrow is a granivore, placed at the herbivore trophic level.

### Where does the house sparrow live?

The house sparrow lives on human-modified land. It is terrestrial and sedentary, with a geographic range of 34,410,000 km².

### Is the house sparrow endangered?

No. The house sparrow is listed as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List, which is not a threatened category.

### How long does a house sparrow live?

The house sparrow has a lifespan of 17.71 years as a representative value, and up to 23 years.

### How many eggs does a house sparrow lay?

A house sparrow lays 4.35 eggs per clutch as a representative value, from 2 to 7, with 3.25 clutches per year. Incubation takes 11.75 days.

### When does a house sparrow reach sexual maturity?

A house sparrow reaches sexual maturity at 273.8 days as a representative value, from 182.6 days to 1 year.

## Sources

- [An amniote life-history database to perform comparative analyses with birds, mammals, and reptiles](https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.3563457.v1), CC0 1.0, E096-269. Myhrvold, N.P., Baldridge, E., Chan, B., Sivam, D., Freeman, D.L. & Ernest, S.K.M. (2015) An amniote life-history database to perform comparative analyses with birds, mammals, and reptiles. Ecology 96: 3109. https://doi.org/10.1890/15-0846R.1. Data: https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.3563457.v1
- [AVONET: morphological, ecological and geographical data for all birds](https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.16586228.v7), CC BY 4.0, v7. Tobias, J.A. et al. (2022) AVONET: morphological, ecological and geographical data for all birds. Ecology Letters 25: 581–597. https://doi.org/10.1111/ele.13898. Data: https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.16586228.v7
- [Catalogue of Life eXtended Release](https://www.checklistbank.org/dataset/316691), CC BY 4.0, 2026-10-16 XR. Catalogue of Life (2026). Catalogue of Life eXtended Release, version 2026-10-16 XR. Catalogue of Life Foundation, Amsterdam, Netherlands. https://doi.org/10.48580/dgzlf
- [Wikimedia Commons](https://commons.wikimedia.org), per file (CC0 / public domain / CC BY green, CC BY-SA amber, anything else not displayed), 2026-11-11. Wikimedia Commons contributors. Wikimedia Commons. https://commons.wikimedia.org (each file credited to its author under its own licence).
- [Wikidata](https://www.wikidata.org), CC0 1.0, 2026-11-11. Wikidata contributors. Wikidata. https://www.wikidata.org (data retrieved via the Wikidata Query Service).
- [Wikipedia (English)](https://en.wikipedia.org), CC BY-SA 4.0, 2026-11-11. Wikipedia contributors. Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. https://en.wikipedia.org (text under CC BY-SA 4.0; each block names its article and revision).

Cite as: House sparrow (Passer domesticus). Retrieved from https://creaturedata.com/animals/house-sparrow