Topic
Passer
About: Passer is a research topic. Over the lifetime, 318 publications have been published within this topic receiving 5626 citations. The topic is also known as: true sparrows.
Papers published on a yearly basis
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Papers
Book•
10 Aug 2006
TL;DR: The role of the House Sparrow in disease transmission to humans and their domesticated animals, and sexual selection and the function of the male badge in the species are explored.
Abstract: After the chicken, the House Sparrow is the most widely distributed bird species in the world, occurring on all continents except Antarctica and on most human-inhabited islands. Although its Latin name is Passer domesticus, it is certainly not domesticated. In fact, it is widely regarded as a pest species and is consequently not protected in most of its extensive range. This combination of ubiquity and minimal legal protection has contributed to its wide use in studies by avian biologists throughout the world. The purpose of this book is to review and summarize the results of these global studies on House Sparrows, and to provide a springboard for future studies on the species. House Sparrows have been used to study natural selection in introduced species, circadian rhythms, and the neuroendocrine control of the avian annual cycle. One current question of considerable interest concerns the catastrophic House Sparrow population declines in several urban centers in Europe. Is the House Sparrow a contemporary canary in the mine? Other topics of broad interest include the reproductive and flock-foraging strategies of sparrows, and sexual selection and the function of the male badge in the species. Anderson also explores the role of the House Sparrow in disease transmission to humans and their domesticated animals.
334 citations
TL;DR: Patterns of geographic variation in North America parallel those shown by native polytypic species, in conformity with Gloger's and Bergmann's ecogeographic rules.
Abstract: Conspicuous adaptive differentiation in color and size has occurred in the house sparrow (Passer domesticus) in North America and the Hawaiian Islands since its introduction in the middle of the 19th century. Patterns of geographic variation in North America parallel those shown by native polytypic species, in conformity with Gloger's and Bergmann's ecogeographic rules. Racial differentiation of house sparrow populations may require no more than 50 years.
262 citations
TL;DR: The analysis of the genetic mating system of two populations of the house sparrow and uses the results from four other populations to test existing hypotheses using an intra-specific comparative approach to find no effect of breeding density and genetic variation on the level of extra-pair paternity.
Abstract: Despite the many studies that have investigated the genetic mating system of socially monogamous birds, very little is known about the underlying causes of extra-pair paternity and few studies have attempted to test those hypotheses which have been suggested. This study describes the analysis of the genetic mating system of two populations of the house sparrow (Passer domesticus), and uses the results from four other populations to test existing hypotheses using an intra-specific comparative approach. The parentage analysis was conducted using a combination of published and newly presented microsatellite loci isolated from the house sparrow. One population in Kentucky, U.S.A. was found to contain what may be considered to be a typical level of extra-pair paternity for this species (10.5%, 19/185 offspring). The second, a population on the island of Lundy, UK, exhibited a very low level (1.3%, 4/305 offspring), significantly lower than that in all the other populations studied so far. The finding of such diverse rates of extra-pair paternity, along with the existing estimates from other populations, has allowed us to test the effects of breeding density and genetic variation on the level of extra-pair paternity. We found no effect of either factor on the frequency of extra-pair paternity in the house sparrow, leaving the cause of this variation open to fresh ideas.
226 citations
TL;DR: Experimental evidence is presented that free-living, solitary house sparrows that discover a divisible food source usually make ‘chirrup’ calls to recruit other sp Sparrows before foraging, but a sparrow that locates a non-divisible resource tends not to chirrup, nor does it wait to be joined before foraged.
197 citations
TL;DR: The House Sparrow Passer domesticus is traditionally associated with human habitation, but the species has undergone dramatic declines in many urban areas in north-western Europe in the 1970s as mentioned in this paper.
Abstract: The House Sparrow Passer domesticus is traditionally associated with human habitation. However, the species has undergone dramatic declines in many urban areas in north-western Europe. There are many theories as to why this decline has occurred, but the lack of data on House Sparrow numbers prior to their decline has hampered efforts to investigate these theories in detail. This review summarises the demographic changes in urban House Sparrow populations since the 1970s, and considers evidence that the current distribution of House Sparrows may reflect changes in urban habitats caused by socioeconomic change. Evidence is mounting that, within urban landscapes, House Sparrows appear to be more prevalent in areas with a relatively low human socioeconomic status. Here, we present evidence to suggest that House Sparrows may have disappeared predominantly from more affluent areas, and that these areas are more likely to have undergone changes to habitat structure. We also show how these changes in habitat could influence House Sparrow populations via impacts upon nesting success, foraging and predation risk.
194 citations
Related Topics (5)
Performance Metrics
| Year | Papers |
|---|---|
| 2025 | 45 |
| 2024 | 75 |
| 2023 | 53 |
| 2022 | 67 |
| 2021 | 27 |
| 2020 | 25 |