Sparrows
Order: Passeriformes. Family: Passeridae
Sparrows are small passerine birds. In general, sparrows tend to be small plump brownish or greyish birds with short tails and short powerful beaks. They are monogamous and build conspicuous nests. Sparrows are granivorous, but also consume small insects. There are 35 species worldwide, six in Southern Africa.
- House Sparrow Passer domesticus introduced
- Great Sparrow Passer motitensis near-endemic
- Cape Sparrow Passer melanurus near-endemic
- Southern Grey-headed Sparrow Passer diffusus
- Northern Grey-headed Sparrow Passer griseus
- Yellow-throated Petronia Petronia superciliaris
Read more about this topic: List Of Southern African Birds
Famous quotes containing the word sparrows:
“Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? Yet not one of them will fall to the ground apart from your Father.”
—Bible: New Testament, Matthew 10:29.
“It seemed as if the breezes brought him,
It seemed as if the sparrows taught him,
As if by secret sign he knew
Where in far fields the orchids grew.”
—Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–1882)
“And now the sparrows warring in the eaves,
The curd-pale moon, the white stars in the sky,
And the loud chaunting of the unquiet leaves,
Are shaken with earth’s old and weary cry.”
—William Butler Yeats (1865–1939)