Description[edit]

A close-up of a male house sparrow

Yellow-throated sparrow at Keoladeo National Park, India

Generally, sparrows are small, plump, brown-grey birds with short tails and stub
by, powerful beaks. The differences between sparrow species can be subtle. Membe
rs of this family range in size from the chestnut sparrow (Passer eminibey), at
11.4 centimetres (4.5 in) and 13.4 grams (0.47 oz), to the parrot-billed sparrow
(Passer gongonensis), at 18 centimetres (7.1 in) and 42 grams (1.5 oz). Sparrow
s are physically similar to other seed-eating birds, such as finches, but have a
vestigial dorsal outer primary feather and an extra bone in the tongue.[2][3] T
his bone, the preglossale, helps stiffen the tongue when holding seeds. Other ad
aptations towards eating seeds are specialised bills and elongated and specialis
ed alimentary canals.[4]
Taxonomy and systematics[edit]

A sparrow chick in Italy

Painting of black-winged snowfinches

Under the classification used in the Handbook of the Birds of the World (HBW) ma
in groupings of the sparrows are the true sparrows (genus Passer), the snowfinch
es (typically one genus, Montifringilla), and the rock sparrows (Petronia and th
e pale rockfinch). These groups are similar to each other, and are each fairly h
omogeneous, especially Passer.[4] Some classifications also include the sparrowweavers (Plocepasser) and several other African genera (otherwise classified amo
ng the weavers, Ploceidae)[4] which are morphologically similar to Passer.[5] Ac
cording to a study of molecular and skeletal evidence by Jon Fjelds and colleague
s, the cinnamon ibon of the Philippines, previously considered to be a white-eye
, is a sister taxon to the sparrows as defined by the HBW. They therefore classi
fy it as its own subfamily within Passeridae.[5]
Many early classifications of the sparrows placed them as close relatives of the
weavers among the various families of small seed-eating birds, based on the sim
ilarity of their breeding behaviour, bill structure, and moult, among other char
acters. Some, starting with P. P. Suskin in the 1920s, placed the sparrows in th
e weaver family as the subfamily Passerinae, and tied them to Plocepasser. Anoth
er family sparrows were classed with was the finches (Fringillidae).[4]