The house sparrow in the service of basic and applied biology.

Haley E Hanson,Lynn B Martin,Noreen S Mathews,Mark E Hauber

doi:10.7554/elife.52803

Haley E Hanson, Lynn B Martin + Show 2 more

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.7554/elife.52803

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Abstract

From the northernmost tip of Scandinavia to the southernmost corner of Patagonia, and across six continents, house sparrows (Passer domesticus) inhabit most human-modified habitats of the globe. With over 7,000 articles published, the species has become a workhorse for not only the study of self-urbanized wildlife, but also for understanding life history and body size evolution, sexual selection and many other biological phenomena. Traditionally, house sparrows were studied for their adaptations to local biotic and climatic conditions, but more recently, the species has come to serve as a focus for studies seeking to reveal the genomic, epigenetic and physiological underpinnings of success among invasive vertebrate species. Here, we review the natural history of house sparrows, highlight what the study of these birds has meant to bioscience generally, and describe the many resources available for future work on this species.

Highlights

House sparrows are small, sexually dimorphic birds in the family Passeridae
We explore the natural history of house sparrows and the contributions that these birds have made to basic biology and beyond
Advocating that house sparrows be used as model organisms is not simple as many definitions of model species are available (Bolker, 2009; Bolker, 2014; Bolker, 2017)

Summary

Introduction

Sexually dimorphic birds in the family Passeridae. The species is one of the most widely distributed and common birds in the world, represented by 12 different subspecies (Summers-Smith, 2009). House sparrows in the roughly 40year-old Panama population consume unfamiliar foods more quickly than birds from a much older invasive population in New Jersey in the United States (Martin and Fitzgerald, 2005). Pairs commonly use the same nest site for several years (Summers-Smith, 1963), as is typical in most bird species, males are more likely to stay in, or habitually return to, the area around a nest site than females (Morrison et al, 2008).

Results

Conclusion