House Sparrow
This is the House Sparrow. Originally from the Middle East, the House Sparrow is now considered native to Europe, the Mediterranean and Asia. It has also been introduced to other parts of the world, including Australia, Africa and America, making it the most widespread wild bird in the world.
Due to their rampant breeding style, the ancient Greeks considered Sparrows the birds of Aphrodite, the goddess of love, while Northern Europeans slurped “Sparrow Soup” for its aphrodisiac properties. Both Jesus and Shakespeare used them as an example of divine protective care. There is even an Egyptian hieroglyph based on the sparrow, which has been thought to mean “a prolific man”.
House Sparrows became associated with humans around 10,000 years ago, which was soon after the last Ice Age, as humans first began to develop farming. They have been living with humans as long as cats, cows and chickens and have become very good at it. House Sparrows are extremely social sparrows, gathering in noisy flocks to feed on grain and insects, before returning to their untidy nests. Perhaps it’s these similarities that we see in ourselves, which have given the House Sparrow a place in our communities, since ancient times.
Unfortunately House Sparrows have become critically endangered in parts of the world, especially Western Europe. Thought to be attributed to the decline of insects due to pesticides, the drop in House Sparrow numbers is a warning sign for urban ecosystem destruction. Go to worldsparrowday.org for more information.
