[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":261},["ShallowReactive",2],{"families_en:\u002Fsemeystva\u002Fvorobyinye":3,"alt-locale:families_en:\u002Fsemeystva\u002Fvorobyinye":116,"section-listing:families_en:\u002Fsemeystva":117,"section-listing:disabled":254,"related-covers:en:\u002Fsemeystva\u002Fsinitsevye|\u002Fsemeystva|\u002Fopredelitel":255},{"id":4,"title":5,"body":6,"coverImage":76,"description":77,"extension":78,"faq":79,"imagePrompt":89,"latinName":20,"meta":90,"navigation":91,"order":92,"pageType":93,"path":94,"publishedAt":95,"readingMinutes":96,"relatedLinks":97,"seo":110,"sitemap":113,"stem":114,"taxonRank":93,"updatedAt":92,"__hash__":115},"families_en\u002Fsemeystva\u002Fvorobyinye.md","Old World Sparrows (Passeridae)",{"type":7,"value":8,"toc":68},"minimark",[9,14,22,25,29,32,35,39,61,65],[10,11,13],"h2",{"id":12},"what-makes-passeridae-a-family","What makes Passeridae a family",[15,16,17,21],"p",{},[18,19,20],"strong",{},"Passeridae",", the Old World sparrow family, comprises around 40 species of small, sturdy, seed-eating songbirds native to Europe, Asia, and Africa, several of which — most notably the house sparrow — have since spread across most of the inhabited world through close association with human settlement and agriculture. Members share a stout, conical beak well suited to cracking seeds and grain, a compact, robust body, and a strongly social lifestyle, typically feeding, roosting, and breeding in flocks or loose colonies rather than as solitary or strictly paired individuals outside the breeding season.",[15,23,24],{},"Despite the shared common name, Old World sparrows are not closely related to the New World sparrows found across the Americas, which belong to an entirely different family that evolved separately; the resemblance in size, brownish streaked plumage, and general habits reflects convergent evolution toward a similar small-seed-eating lifestyle rather than a close evolutionary connection.",[10,26,28],{"id":27},"distinctive-traits-across-the-family","Distinctive traits across the family",[15,30,31],{},"Head pattern provides the clearest way to distinguish between similar-looking Passeridae species: the house sparrow shows marked differences between the sexes, with males displaying a grey crown, chestnut nape, and broad black bib while females remain plain streaked brown, whereas the tree sparrow shows essentially no difference between sexes, both displaying a solid chestnut crown and a distinctive black cheek spot lacking in the house sparrow entirely.",[15,33,34],{},"Habitat association also varies meaningfully within the family even among closely related species: across much of Western Europe the house sparrow is the more thoroughly urban species while the tree sparrow favors farmland and villages, yet this pattern reverses in parts of East Asia, where the tree sparrow instead fills the primary urban sparrow niche.",[10,36,38],{"id":37},"species-in-this-family","Species in this family",[15,40,41,42,47,48,52,53,47,57,60],{},"This atlas currently covers two members of Passeridae: the ",[43,44,46],"a",{"href":45},"\u002Fen\u002Fvidy-ptic\u002Fvidy\u002Fdomovyi-vorobei","house sparrow"," (",[49,50,51],"em",{},"Passer domesticus","), one of the most widespread birds on Earth and a familiar companion of human settlement worldwide; and the ",[43,54,56],{"href":55},"\u002Fen\u002Fvidy-ptic\u002Fvidy\u002Fpolevoi-vorobei","Eurasian tree sparrow",[49,58,59],{},"Passer montanus","), a smaller, more rural relative distinguished by its chestnut cap and black cheek spot. Further Passeridae species native to the atlas's covered regions will be added to the catalogue over time.",[10,62,64],{"id":63},"where-and-when-to-watch-this-family","Where and when to watch this family",[15,66,67],{},"Because both species covered here are strongly resident and closely associated with human activity, sparrows can be found reliably year-round wherever suitable habitat exists — farmyards, villages, and, for the house sparrow especially, towns and cities across most of the atlas's covered regions. Unlike many songbird families, there is little seasonal pattern to watch for beyond the more conspicuous social flocking and dust-bathing behavior typical of both species outside the breeding season, making sparrows one of the more consistently observable bird families throughout the year.",{"title":69,"searchDepth":70,"depth":70,"links":71},"",2,[72,73,74,75],{"id":12,"depth":70,"text":13},{"id":27,"depth":70,"text":28},{"id":37,"depth":70,"text":38},{"id":63,"depth":70,"text":64},"\u002Fimages\u002Fsemeystva\u002Fvorobyinye.png","The Old World sparrow family: small, sociable, seed-eating birds closely tied to human settlement, from the familiar house sparrow to its quieter, farmland-favoring relative the tree sparrow.","md",[80,83,86],{"q":81,"a":82},"What separates Old World sparrows from other small brown seed-eating birds?","Passeridae species share a stout, conical beak suited to cracking seeds and grain, a compact, robust build, and — more than almost any other bird family — an exceptionally close, long-standing association with human settlement and agriculture, with several species, including the house sparrow, having spread across most of the inhabited world largely by following people rather than expanding through natural range shifts.",{"q":84,"a":85},"Are Old World sparrows related to New World sparrows found in the Americas?","No, despite the shared common name. New World sparrows, such as the song sparrow or white-crowned sparrow, belong to an entirely different family (Passerellidae) that evolved independently in a different part of the songbird family tree; the resemblance in size, shape, and common name reflects convergent evolution and naming convention rather than a close evolutionary relationship.",{"q":87,"a":88},"Why has the house sparrow declined in some cities while the tree sparrow has declined more in farmland?","The two species, though closely related, occupy somewhat different niches in much of their shared Western European range — house sparrows more urban, tree sparrows more rural — so the specific pressures driving decline differ accordingly: reduced urban insect availability and building changes affecting house sparrows most directly, while agricultural intensification and hedgerow loss weigh more heavily on tree sparrow populations.","Photorealistic wildlife photography, a house sparrow male and a Eurasian tree sparrow perched side by side on a weathered wooden farm fence rail, contrasting grey-crowned and chestnut-crowned head patterns visible together, sharp focus on the nearer bird's eye, soft-focus background of an old barn wall and scattered straw, warm late-afternoon light from camera-left, shallow depth of field, telephoto lens compression, 16:9",{},true,null,"family","\u002Fsemeystva\u002Fvorobyinye","13.07.2026",1,[98,102,106],{"label":99,"path":100,"description":101},"Tits (Paridae)","\u002Fsemeystva\u002Fsinitsevye","Another common family of small garden and woodland birds",{"label":103,"path":104,"description":105},"Bird families","\u002Fsemeystva","Species grouped by taxonomic family",{"label":107,"path":108,"description":109},"Bird identifier","\u002Fopredelitel","Identify a bird you've seen by color, size, beak shape, habitat, and season",{"title":111,"description":112},"Old World Sparrows (Passeridae) — traits and species","Passeridae, the Old World sparrow family: small, sociable seed-eaters closely tied to human settlement, from the house sparrow to the tree sparrow. Traits and species.",{"loc":94},"semeystva\u002Fvorobyinye","QaV-eokNKtFgmGqGRafpUAk99iIGv44OwIJ4YctrSo0",{"ru":91,"es":91},[118,123,128,133,138,143,149,154,159,164,169,174,179,184,185,190,195,201,206,211,216,221,226,231,234,239,244,249],{"title":119,"description":120,"path":121,"coverImage":122,"publishedAt":95,"order":92},"Buntings (Emberizidae)","The bunting family: sturdy, seed-eating farmland and open-country songbirds represented here by the vividly yellow-headed yellowhammer, one of Europe's most familiar hedgerow singers.","\u002Fsemeystva\u002Fovsyankovye","\u002Fimages\u002Fsemeystva\u002Fovsyankovye.png",{"title":124,"description":125,"path":126,"coverImage":127,"publishedAt":95,"order":92},"Crows, Ravens, and Allies (Corvidae)","The crow family: some of the most intelligent birds on Earth, from the tiny, sociable jackdaw to the giant common raven, united by cognitive sophistication and remarkable behavioral flexibility.","\u002Fsemeystva\u002Fvranovye","\u002Fimages\u002Fsemeystva\u002Fvranovye.png",{"title":129,"description":130,"path":131,"coverImage":132,"publishedAt":95,"order":92},"Cuckoos (Cuculidae)","The cuckoo family: slender, long-tailed birds best known for the common cuckoo's remarkable brood-parasitic lifestyle, tricking other species into raising its young.","\u002Fsemeystva\u002Fkukushkovye","\u002Fimages\u002Fsemeystva\u002Fkukushkovye.png",{"title":134,"description":135,"path":136,"coverImage":137,"publishedAt":95,"order":92},"Falcons (Falconidae)","The falcon family: fast, direct-flying birds of prey with a distinctive hooked, tomial-toothed beak, found on every continent except Antarctica.","\u002Fsemeystva\u002Fsokolinye","\u002Fimages\u002Fsemeystva\u002Fsokolinye.png",{"title":139,"description":140,"path":141,"coverImage":142,"publishedAt":95,"order":92},"Finches (Fringillidae)","The true finch family: small, seed-eating songbirds with conical beaks ranging from the everyday chaffinch to the specialized, cone-prying red crossbill.","\u002Fsemeystva\u002Fvjurkovye","\u002Fimages\u002Fsemeystva\u002Fvjurkovye.png",{"title":144,"description":145,"path":146,"coverImage":147,"publishedAt":148,"order":92},"Grebes (Podicipedidae)","The grebe family: highly specialized freshwater diving birds with lobed toes, elaborate courtship displays, and chicks that ride on their parents' backs while swimming.","\u002Fsemeystva\u002Fpogankovye","\u002Fimages\u002Fsemeystva\u002Fpogankovye.png","07.08.2026",{"title":150,"description":151,"path":152,"coverImage":153,"publishedAt":95,"order":92},"Gulls (Laridae)","The gull family: adaptable, highly social waterbirds ranging from the small, brown-hooded black-headed gull to the larger, plain-billed common gull, equally at home on coasts and inland waters.","\u002Fsemeystva\u002Fchaykovye","\u002Fimages\u002Fsemeystva\u002Fchaykovye.png",{"title":155,"description":156,"path":157,"coverImage":158,"publishedAt":95,"order":92},"Hawks, Eagles, and Kites (Accipitridae)","The largest family of diurnal birds of prey, spanning soaring buzzards, forest-hunting goshawks, massive fish eagles, and scavenging kites united by a hooked beak and taloned feet.","\u002Fsemeystva\u002Fyastrebinye","\u002Fimages\u002Fsemeystva\u002Fyastrebinye.png",{"title":160,"description":161,"path":162,"coverImage":163,"publishedAt":95,"order":92},"Herons (Ardeidae)","The heron family: patient, statuesque wetland hunters with a coiled S-shaped neck and dagger-like bill, epitomized by the grey heron's motionless watch at the water's edge.","\u002Fsemeystva\u002Ftsaplevye","\u002Fimages\u002Fsemeystva\u002Ftsaplevye.png",{"title":165,"description":166,"path":167,"coverImage":168,"publishedAt":95,"order":92},"Hoopoes (Upupidae)","A small family built around a single unmistakable species, the Eurasian hoopoe, known for its fan-like crest, curved probing beak, and unusual glandular nest defenses.","\u002Fsemeystva\u002Fudodovye","\u002Fimages\u002Fsemeystva\u002Fudodovye.png",{"title":170,"description":171,"path":172,"coverImage":173,"publishedAt":95,"order":92},"Larks (Alaudidae)","The lark family: streaked, ground-nesting birds of open farmland and grassland, best known for the extraordinary sustained soaring song-flight of the Eurasian skylark.","\u002Fsemeystva\u002Fzhavoronkovye","\u002Fimages\u002Fsemeystva\u002Fzhavoronkovye.png",{"title":175,"description":176,"path":177,"coverImage":178,"publishedAt":95,"order":92},"Old World Flycatchers and Chats (Muscicapidae)","A family spanning the beloved orange-breasted robin, the vocally legendary nightingale, and the acrobatic pied flycatcher, unified more by ancestry and insect-catching habits than by appearance.","\u002Fsemeystva\u002Fmuholovkovye","\u002Fimages\u002Fsemeystva\u002Fmuholovkovye.png",{"title":180,"description":181,"path":182,"coverImage":183,"publishedAt":95,"order":92},"Old World Orioles (Oriolidae)","A family of brilliantly colored but famously shy canopy songbirds, represented in Europe by the golden oriole, a bird more often identified by its fluting song than by sight.","\u002Fsemeystva\u002Fivolgovye","\u002Fimages\u002Fsemeystva\u002Fivolgovye.png",{"title":5,"description":77,"path":94,"coverImage":76,"publishedAt":95,"order":92},{"title":186,"description":187,"path":188,"coverImage":189,"publishedAt":95,"order":92},"Pigeons and Doves (Columbidae)","The pigeon family: stout-bodied, small-headed birds fed on crop milk as chicks, spanning the city-adapted rock dove and wood pigeon to the increasingly rare, long-distance migrant turtle dove.","\u002Fsemeystva\u002Fgolubinye","\u002Fimages\u002Fsemeystva\u002Fgolubinye.png",{"title":191,"description":192,"path":193,"coverImage":194,"publishedAt":95,"order":92},"Plovers and Lapwings (Charadriidae)","The plover family: compact, large-eyed waders with short bills adapted for visual foraging, from the crested, iridescent northern lapwing to its smaller and plainer relatives.","\u002Fsemeystva\u002Frzhankovye","\u002Fimages\u002Fsemeystva\u002Frzhankovye.png",{"title":196,"description":197,"path":198,"coverImage":199,"publishedAt":200,"order":92},"Rails, Crakes, and Coots (Rallidae)","The rail family: laterally flattened marsh specialists built for slipping through dense reed beds, ranging from the secretive corncrake to the bold, aggressive Eurasian coot.","\u002Fsemeystva\u002Fpastushkovye","\u002Fimages\u002Fsemeystva\u002Fpastushkovye.png","17.08.2026",{"title":202,"description":203,"path":204,"coverImage":205,"publishedAt":95,"order":92},"Starlings (Sturnidae)","The starling family: gregarious, iridescent, highly vocal songbirds represented in Europe by the common starling and its spectacular winter murmurations.","\u002Fsemeystva\u002Fskvorcovye","\u002Fimages\u002Fsemeystva\u002Fskvorcovye.png",{"title":207,"description":208,"path":209,"coverImage":210,"publishedAt":95,"order":92},"Storks (Ciconiidae)","The stork family: massive, long-legged wading birds with long straight bills, epitomized by the white stork's huge rooftop nests and dramatic overland migration to Africa.","\u002Fsemeystva\u002Faistovye","\u002Fimages\u002Fsemeystva\u002Faistovye.png",{"title":212,"description":213,"path":214,"coverImage":215,"publishedAt":95,"order":92},"Swallows and Martins (Hirundinidae)","The swallow family: sleek, long-winged aerial insect-hunters that spend most of their waking lives on the wing, from the red-throated barn swallow to the white-rumped house martin.","\u002Fsemeystva\u002Flastochkovye","\u002Fimages\u002Fsemeystva\u002Flastochkovye.png",{"title":217,"description":218,"path":219,"coverImage":220,"publishedAt":95,"order":92},"Swifts (Apodidae)","The swift family: extreme aerial specialists that spend nearly their entire lives in flight, closer in ancestry to hummingbirds than to the swallows they superficially resemble.","\u002Fsemeystva\u002Fstrizhinye","\u002Fimages\u002Fsemeystva\u002Fstrizhinye.png",{"title":222,"description":223,"path":224,"coverImage":225,"publishedAt":95,"order":92},"Sylvia Warblers (Sylviidae)","A family of small, plainly plumaged, densely-vegetation-loving warblers prized far more for their voices than their looks, exemplified by the richly singing Eurasian blackcap.","\u002Fsemeystva\u002Fslavkovye","\u002Fimages\u002Fsemeystva\u002Fslavkovye.png",{"title":227,"description":228,"path":229,"coverImage":230,"publishedAt":95,"order":92},"Thrushes (Turdidae)","The thrush family: medium-sized, powerful-singing ground foragers, from the glossy black common blackbird to the heavily spotted song thrush and the gregarious, flocking fieldfare.","\u002Fsemeystva\u002Fdrozdovye","\u002Fimages\u002Fsemeystva\u002Fdrozdovye.png",{"title":99,"description":232,"path":100,"coverImage":233,"publishedAt":95,"order":92},"The tit family: small, acrobatic, cavity-nesting songbirds from the bold, dominant great tit to the tiny, cache-obsessed coal tit, among the most familiar and intensively studied garden birds in Europe.","\u002Fimages\u002Fsemeystva\u002Fsinitsevye.png",{"title":235,"description":236,"path":237,"coverImage":238,"publishedAt":95,"order":92},"Typical Owls (Strigidae)","The largest owl family, spanning the familiar tawny owl, tufted long-eared owl, and the giant Eurasian eagle-owl, united by forward-facing eyes, silent flight, and mostly nocturnal habits.","\u002Fsemeystva\u002Fsovinye","\u002Fimages\u002Fsemeystva\u002Fsovinye.png",{"title":240,"description":241,"path":242,"coverImage":243,"publishedAt":95,"order":92},"Wagtails and Pipits (Motacillidae)","A family of slender, long-tailed, ground-foraging songbirds best exemplified by the constantly tail-bobbing white wagtail, equally at home beside a river or in a busy town square.","\u002Fsemeystva\u002Ftryasoguzkovye","\u002Fimages\u002Fsemeystva\u002Ftryasoguzkovye.png",{"title":245,"description":246,"path":247,"coverImage":248,"publishedAt":95,"order":92},"Waterfowl (Anatidae)","The waterfowl family: ducks, geese, and swans, unified by webbed feet, waterproof plumage, and a broad flattened bill, from the familiar mallard to the massive mute swan.","\u002Fsemeystva\u002Futinye","\u002Fimages\u002Fsemeystva\u002Futinye.png",{"title":250,"description":251,"path":252,"coverImage":253,"publishedAt":95,"order":92},"Woodpeckers (Picidae)","The woodpecker family: powerful, tree-climbing excavators built to hammer into wood, from the widespread black-and-white great spotted woodpecker to the crow-sized black woodpecker.","\u002Fsemeystva\u002Fdyatlovye","\u002Fimages\u002Fsemeystva\u002Fdyatlovye.png",[],[256,257,259],{"label":99,"path":100,"description":101,"coverImage":233},{"label":103,"path":104,"description":105,"coverImage":258},"\u002Fimages\u002Fsemeystva\u002Findex.png",{"label":107,"path":108,"description":109,"coverImage":260},"\u002Fimages\u002Fopredelitel\u002Findex.png",1787114562308]