Description:  The house sparrow is one of two species that occurs in North America .  It is actually not a sparrow but a type of finch.  House sparrows are approximately six inches long.  Their color varies with the sex, males having a black patch under the beak and the cheeks, rump, and top of the head gray white.  In the winter the black areas are hidden by the gray feather tips.  Females and young sparrows are dull brown with a dirty white breast and brow.

Biology:  The eggs range in color from white to light green to light blue and have numerous dark spots.  They average five to six eggs per clutch and require ten to fourteen days to incubate.  Two to three broods per year or up to 21 young per year are produced.  After hatching the almost featherless young birds are totally dependent on the parent birds for food and warmth.

Habits: Sparrows prefer to nest in protected man- made or natural areas.  Building ledges, openings in structures, gutters, signs, light fixtures, birdhouses, under the eaves of a house, bridges, electrical power lines and transformers are areas which are often used to construct nests.  Sparrows also displace other birds from their nest; destroy their eggs and use their nests for their own brood.  Both sexes construct a rather large and flimsy nest from straw, grass, feathers, strips of paper, string and other debris.  House sparrows frequently nest in kitchen, bathroom, oven and dryer vents.

Behavior/Damage: Sparrows tend to be very territorial, as individuals and as flocks and restrict their nesting and feeding to specific locations.  They foul structures with their droppings, particularly those areas used for roosting and loafing sites.  Sparrows also enter food plants, warehouses, department stores and malls where they often contaminate food products or other merchandise.  Their droppings can contain a variety of disease causing bacteria, fungi, nematodes, etc.  Numerous blood- feeding parasitic mites associated with sparrows also bite humans.