The worker longhorn crazy ant is about 2.3 to 3.0 mm (0.09 to 0.12 in) long with a brownish-black head, thorax, petiole, and gaster, often with a faint blue iridescence. The body has a few short, whitish bristles and the antennae and limbs are pale brown. Distinguishing this ant from other members of its genus, Paratrechina, is easy because its antennae and legs are so long. The first segment of each antenna is more than twice as long as the length between its base and the back edge of the head. The eyes are elliptical and set far back on the head. It has no sting, but the ant can bite and then curve its abdomen forwards and secrete formic acid onto its prey. They are too feeble to harm humans. A characteristic of this ant is the way that the workers move around jerkily in apparently random directions.


The genus Paratrechina probably originated in the tropics of Africa. It has spread to temperate regions around the world, and is now present in North and South America, Africa, Europe, Asia, and Oceania. It is a tropical species, but because of its ability to live in disturbed and artificial habitats, inside buildings, and in urban areas, it has been able to spread northwards to Estonia and Sweden and southwards to New Zealand. In the United States, it is present outdoors in much of the southeast of the country and also indoors in buildings and warehouses in California, Arizona, and the eastern seaboard. In tropical and subtropical areas, as well as being found in buildings, it is found in gardens, coastal scrub, lowland rainforest, dry forest, and savannah shrubland, and by the roadside at elevations of up to 1,765 m (5,791 ft), but at an average elevation of 175 m (574 ft). It is considered a pest, both agricultural and domestic, in most parts of the tropics and subtropics, and an indoor pest in temperate areas. It is said to be the most widespread species of ant in the world, although the pharaoh ant (Monomorium pharaonis) is another challenger for this position.


Colonies of longhorn crazy ants make their nests in a wide range of either dry or damp sites. These include inside hollow trees, under loose bark, in rotten wood, under logs or stones, among rubbish, and under undisturbed debris inside buildings. They thrive in convenience stores, gas stations, apartment blocks, schools, and cafés. The workers emerge to forage and the location of the nest can be identified by watching ants carrying food back to the colony. The ants are omnivorous and feed on seeds, dead invertebrates, honeydew, plant secretions, fruit, and a range of household scraps. Large food items may be moved by several ants working together. They consume honeydew predominantly in spring and autumn, and may tend aphids, mealybugs, and scale insects so as to maximise the secretions they produce. During the summer, they preferentially seek a high-protein diet. In buildings, they collect crumbs and the insect corpses found under lights.
The longhorn crazy ant is able to invade new habitats and outcompete other species of ants. In 1991, in the large closed dome of the research station Biosphere 2 in the Arizona Desert, no particular ant species was dominant. By 1996, the longhorn crazy ant had virtually replaced all the other ant species. It fed almost exclusively on the honeydew secreted by the large numbers of scale insects and mealybugs present, and other invertebrates were greatly diminished. The ones that remained were either well armoured, such as millipedes and woodlice, or were tiny and lived underground, such as springtails and mites.
The inquiline wingless ant cricket (Myrmecophilus americanus) is often found living in the nest of the longhorn crazy ant and is kleptoparasitic on it, stealing food scraps brought back by the workers and encouraging them to regurgitate food. It may be assisted in this symbiosis by mimicry, as it resembles the gaster of the queen in both size and shape. Some poorly-known species of fungi have been found in association with crazy ants in South America.


In tropical regions, male and female sexual forms may appear outside colonies at any time of year, but in Florida, they appear between May and September. On a warm damp evening, many males may emerge from the nest and mill about on the ground. Meanwhile, the workers congregate on nearby vegetation, and periodically, a wingless female comes out of the nest, although mating is difficult to observe in the constantly moving mass of ants. Although the males can fly, nuptial flights do not take place. On other occasions, massive numbers of workers sometimes emerge from colonies and carpet the ground. Large areas may be covered by a sheet of workers, many of them carrying brood, with many wingless females scattered among them. The reasons for these gatherings is unclear.
Longhorn crazy ants are able to mate with their siblings without showing any of the normal negative effects of inbreeding. Although the queen produces workers through normal sexual means, her daughter queens are her genetic clones and her sons are the genetic clones of her mate. The male and female gene pools thus remain completely separate (assuming workers never reproduce), and this has allowed the longhorn crazy ant to become one of the most widespread invasive species in the tropics. The process, known as double cloning, was discovered by evolutionary biologist Morgan Pearcy of the Université libre de Bruxelles.
The species apparently undergoes three larval moults, and their larvae are hairy and present unique morphology; male larvae can be easily distinguished from larvae destined to become workers because of longer and more abundant pilosity.


Pareuchaetes insulata, also known as the yellow-winged pareuchaetes, is a moth of the subfamily Arctiinae. It was described by Francis Walker in 1855. It is found on Cuba and the Antilles, as well as in the southern United States (Arizona, Florida, South Carolina and Texas), the Dominican Republic, El Salvador, Guatemala and Nicaragua.
The wingspan is 26–38 mm. The forewings are clay yellow without markings. Adults have been recorded on wing year round, but are most common from April to November.
The larvae feed on various plants, including Chromolaena odorata, Ageratum species and Hernandia sonora.


Parietaria judaica, with common names spreading pellitory or pellitory of the wall, is a species of herbaceous perennial plant in the family Urticaceae. The plant's pollen is highly allergenic. In Australia it is also known as asthma weed, due to the high incidence of allergy. It is unrelated to the herb pellitory (Anacyclus pyrethrum). It is easily confused with the very similar species Parietaria officinalis.


The biological form of Parietaria judaica is hemicryptophyte scapose, as its overwintering buds are situated just below the soil surface and the floral axis is more or less erect. This plant has pink or red hairy stems, woody at the base. It reaches on average a height of 60 centimetres (24 in). The leaves are hairy, alternate, simple, entire and green, with smooth margins. The tiny white or pink flowers are attached to the stems. They are bisexual or unisexual, produced in clusters of three to many together in the leaf axils. The nickname sticky-weed is due to the adherent quality of the flowers and of the hairy stems; unlike some related species of the family Urticaceae, the hairs do not sting. The flowering period extends from spring through autumn, when it produces large amounts of pollen. The fruits are blackish achenes.


Parietaria judaica is a native of Europe, central and western Asia and northern Africa.


Generally considered a weed, it is often found on roadsides, along dry stone walls and in cracks of buildings and rock faces. However it might be useful in a habitat garden within its native range, as it is a larval food plant for red admiral butterflies (Vanessa atalanta). Ideal habitats are dry and at an altitude of 0–1,000 metres (0–3,281 ft) above sea level. This species is wind pollinated. Seeds are adhesive and transported by insects as well as other animals, people and machines.


Parkinsonia microphylla, the yellow paloverde, foothill paloverde or little-leaved palo verde; syn. Cercidium microphyllum), is a species of palo verde.
It is native to the Southwestern United States in southeastern California and southern Arizona; and to northwest Mexico in the states of Sinaloa, Sonora, and Baja California.   The plant is mostly found on slopes, and is one of the most common trees of the Sonoran Desert.


Parkinsonia microphylla is a bristling, upright-branching tree. The species is slow-growing, sometimes living for several hundred years. It typically grows to heights of around 5 metres (16 ft), although rarely it can reach 6–7 metres (20–23 ft) tall.
The leaves are yellowish green, and during extensively dry and hot periods the tree will shed them.  It has the characteristic of performing photosynthesis in its bark (hence the green color), and this is what allows it to survive leafless in hotter periods.
The flowers are found on the end of a branch, small, pale yellow and occur in late spring. The tree may not flower every year, depending on the amount rainfall. If there is enough rainfall, seeds will also appear in 4–8 cm long, soft pods which dip in between each seed. They ripen in July, and stick to the branches.
The seedlings are very sensitive to drought for the first two to three months of their lives, and only about 1.6% will survive after germinating.
Threats
Buffelgrass is an exotic species of grass native to Africa, first introduced into the Sonoran Desert for livestock grazing, which spreads very quickly and can often kill seedlings by using available water, which could be a threat in the future.


It is a honey plant, and its twigs are browsed by wildlife, such as the jackrabbit. In times of scarcity, it may be gnawed by livestock. Rodents will often carry and store the seeds underground, where some of them will germinate after a rainy season.


The Seri people, a Native American group of northwestern Mexico, call this tree ziipxöl [ʃiːpχʷɬ]. They grind up the seeds for flour, boil the green pods with meat, and eat the sweet green seeds as well as the flowers. The seeds are also strung to make jewellery.


Parkinsonia microphylla is cultivated as an ornamental tree for use in xeriscapic, modernist, and native plant gardens. It is also used as a small tree in parking lot plantings of commercial developments.


Parnassia glauca, also known as fen grass of Parnassus, is a flowering herb of the genus Parnassia.


The native distribution of P. glauca includes the northeastern United States and southeastern Canada. Natural habitats for this plant include fens, wetland edges, and the shores and floodplains of rivers and lakes. It is typically found in basic soils (soils that have a high pH).


The flower of P. glauca is 5-merous, with five petals and five sepals. Five sterile stamens are also present, with each divided into three prongs near its base, giving the flower the appearance of having 15 sterile stamens. A small yellow spherical structure, mimicking a drop of nectar, tops each sterile stamen branch. Each of the five white petals features green veins that may serve as guides for pollinators. Leaves are simple, with entire margins, and are found only at the base of the plant. The fruit is a dry capsule that splits open upon ripening.


Parnassia palustris, the marsh grass of Parnassus, northern grass-of-Parnassus, or just grass-of-Parnassus, and bog star, is a flowering plant in the staff-vine family Celastraceae.
It is the county flower of Cumberland in England, and appears on its flag.
The name comes from ancient Greece: evidently the cattle on Mount Parnassus appreciated the plant; hence it was an "honorary grass". The specific epithet palustris is Latin for "of the marsh" and indicates its common habitat. It was described by the Greek physician Dioscorides, growing up a mountain in 1st century A.D.


This perennial plant is not a grass, nor does it look like one, but grows from a short underground stem. It has long stemmed heart-shaped leaves, which are 4-12 in (10–30 cm) long. In the centre of the leaf, is the flowering stem. The stem holds a solitary white flower, blooming between July and October. The flower has 5 stamens around the centre. The flower produces a honey-like scent to attract pollinators.


Parnassia palustris is native to northern temperate parts of Eurasia. It is found in wet moorlands and marshes of northern England and Scotland.


It was once used in herbal medicines, to treat disorders of the liver. An infusion of the leaves, (similar to a tea) was also used to treat indigestion. When added to wine or water, the leaves are claimed to dissolve kidney stones.


While finishing his schooling in the School of Mines at Freiberg from June 14, 1791, to February 26, 1792,
Alexander von Humboldt published three articles on plants in the Annalen der Botanik. These were his first of what the world famous explorer would produce. Notably, one was concerning "On the Motion of the Filaments of the Parnassia Palustris."


The yellow-billed cardinal (Paroaria capitata) is a bird species in the tanager family (Thraupidae). It is not very closely related to the cardinals proper (Cardinalidae).
It occurs in Brazil, Paraguay, Bolivia, Uruguay, and northern Argentina and has been introduced on the island of Hawai'i. It breeds in moist shrubland. The yellow-billed cardinal could be easily confused with the red-crested cardinal. The yellow-billed cardinal does not have a crest.


Parrhasius m-album, the white M hairstreak, is a species of butterfly of the family Lycaenidae. It is found in the United States from Connecticut west to southeast Iowa and Missouri south to east Texas the Gulf Coast and peninsular Florida. On rare occasions some stray to Michigan and Wisconsin.
The wingspan is 32–41 mm.
The larvae feed on Quercus virginiana and other Quercus species.


Parsonsia heterophylla, commonly called New Zealand Jasmine or Kaihua, is a climbing plant endemic to New Zealand.
The name heterophylla comes from the differing leaf shapes that can be seen in seedlings and juvenile plants of the species. Heterophylla means varied leaves, from the Greek words heteros and phullon. Synonyms for this species include Parsonsia variabilis Lindl., Parsonsia albiflora Raoul and Parsonsia macrocarpa Colenso. It can also be described as "The Varied-leaved Parsonsia". There are 40 species of Parsonsia found in Asia, Australasia and the Pacific, P. heterophylla is one of two endemic Parsonsia species found in New Zealand. It is more robust and has bigger flowers than its close relative, Parsonsia capsularis, which is also known as Akakiore or Small Māori Jasmine.


The flowers of P. heterophylla are "white, scented, and tubular with anthers hidden within the tube." This species has also been observed rarely to have yellow flowers. They appear in many-flowered, fairly compact clusters on the plant. The flowers are small, each usually up to 8mm in size. The flowers are often described for their peculiar scent. Often seen draped over the tops of tall trees, the flowers are more recognisable by their scent than their appearance.
The fruit of P. heterophylla is a long, narrow pod that opens to release tufted seeds. These seeds pods are around 15 cm long. Each pod holds numerous seeds, and each one is tipped with a tuft of silky hairs. The two-valved pod opens from the tip downwards, bending outwards and raising seeds up so that their tufts can be caught by the wind. The fruit pods start green, turning to brown and then after the seeds have been dispersed, the dry, empty pods hang a long time on the plant.
The leaves of P. heterophylla are variable in size and shape, both in all stages of its life. The leaves of seedlings and juvenile plants are largely diverse, and a range of small and round, long and narrow and irregularly shaped leaves can all be found mixed on the same plant. In adults, the leaves are described as "opposite, rather shiny and rather dark green from above, much paler underneath, more or less smooth-edge but often somewhat wavy edged, more than 1 cm wide, often 2, 3, or 4 cm wide and up to 10cm long". While the leaves of adult plants are usually shorter and broader than in juveniles, they are still variable in shape. The leaf types can narrowly be defined as small round, long narrow and moderately broad and oblong.
The twining stems of P. heterophylla are often tightly wrapped around host stems and are described as softly woody and flexible. In older plants, the stem is woody towards the base. Each stem is as thick as a quill and shining. This branching climber can reach up to 10 metres tall by climbing up any plant within reach.


P. heterophylla is an indigenous or endemic species of New Zealand, meaning that it is not found anywhere else in the world.
Its presence has been recorded in the North Island, South Island, Three Kings Islands and Stewart Island. It is commonly found across the country in lowland or low montane forest.  Its preferred habitat is forest margins and clearings in coastal scrub patches. It has been observed to grow side by side with its close relative Parsonsia capsularis in the Banks Peninsula, where hybrids are sometimes encountered.


There is little information available on the timeline and life cycle of this species. This plant flowers from September to March, followed by seed pods from February. Seeds are dispersed then by the wind.
If one wants to plant P. heterophylla in their garden, the optimal time to collect seeds is between February to April.


P. heterophylla twine their young stems around other plants in order and grow and climb towards the sunlight.
P. heterophylla is a host plant to a number of invertebrate species, including beetles, wasps, moths, butterflies, grasshoppers and sucking bugs.  The larvae of the moth Stigmella kaimanua feed on the leaves of P. heterophylla. It also attracts the rare New Zealand Ribbonwood Aphid or Paradoxaphis plagianthi. The sweet-scented flowers of P. heterophylla are attractive to night-flying moths.
The nectar of P. heterophylla is eaten by the New Zealand Bellbird or Korimako.


P. heterophylla's current conservation status is not threatened, according to the Department of Conservation.
The flowers of P. heterophylla were historically often bound by Māori to the perches of bird-traps as a lure.


Parthenium incanum, with the common names mariola and New Mexico rubber plant, is a plant in the genus Parthenium of the family Asteraceae.
The plant is native to North America, from the Southwestern United States through Northern, Central, and Southwestern Mexico. Habitats include desert grasslands including in the Chihuahuan Desert, on dry gravel slopes, and on plains.


Parthenium incanum grows from 1.5–3 feet (0.46–0.91 m) in height and width. Its foliage is a pubescent grayish-white. Small white flower clusters appear from July to October.


The Jicarilla Apache used mariola as a traditional medicinal plant. It was prepared by boiling the plant's leaves, and the solution was then was rubbed over a pregnant woman's abdomen to relieve discomfort.


Parthenium incanum is cultivated as an ornamental plant, for use in drought tolerant, native plant, and wildlife gardens.


Parthenium integrifolium is a species of flowering plant in the family Asteraceae known by the common names wild quinine, American feverfew, and eastern feverfew. It is native to the eastern and midwestern United States.


This plant is a perennial herb growing about three to five feet high. The glandular leaves are oval to lance-shaped and variable in size. They have serrated, toothed, or lobed edges.
Some authorities recognize two varieties based on leaf shape:

var. integrifolium
and var. mabryanum.

The inflorescence is an array of several flower heads containing 15 or more whitish disc florets and 5 to 6 ray florets.
The "flowers have a pleasant but mild medicinal fragrance."


This plant grows in disturbed areas as well as prairies, meadows, woodland edges, and hillsides. It does best in full sun, but does well enough in part shade. It grows in most any well-drained soil from sandy loam to good quality clay. It tolerates hot and cold climates and can be used as a garden plant in many areas. It has a long blooming period of June into September; one of the longer blooming perennials. The winter inflorescences are attractive and make a good dried flower arrangement for indoors. It is sold by a good number of native plant nurseries.
The leaves of the plant contain tannins and the plant was used for medicinal and veterinary purposes by Native Americans. The Catawba people used it as a poultice to treat burns. The ashes were applied to horses with "sore backs". The roots were made into a tea to treat dysentery.


Parthenocissus tricuspidata is a flowering plant in the grape family (Vitaceae) native to eastern Asia in Korea, Japan, and northern and eastern China.  Although unrelated to true ivy, it is commonly known as Boston ivy, grape ivy, and Japanese ivy, and also as Japanese creeper, and by the name woodbine (though the latter may refer to a number of different vine species).


It is a deciduous woody vine growing to 30 m tall or more given suitable support, attaching itself by means of numerous small branched tendrils tipped with sticky disks. The leaves are simple, palmately lobed with three lobes, occasionally unlobed or with five lobes, or sufficiently deeply lobed to be palmately compound with (usually) three leaflets; the leaves range from 5 to 22 cm across. The flowers are inconspicuous, greenish, in clusters; the fruit is a small dark blue grape 5–10 mm diameter.
The specific epithet tricuspidata means three-pointed, referring to the leaf shape.


Like the related Virginia creeper, this plant is widely grown as a climbing ornamental plant to cover the façades of masonry buildings.  This usage is actually economically important because, by shading walls during the summer, it can significantly reduce cooling costs.
Boston Ivy is readily distinguished from the Virginia creeper by its simple leaves with pointed lobes (Virginia creeper leaves are divided into five separate leaflets).
The plant secretes calcium carbonate, which serves as an adhesive pad and gives it the ability to attach itself to a wall without requiring any additional support.  While it does not penetrate the building surface but merely attaches to it, nevertheless damage can occur from attempting to rip the plant from the wall. However, if the plant is killed first, such as by severing the vine from the root, the adhesive pads will eventually deteriorate to the point where the plant can be easily removed without causing any damage to the wall.
It is used on the brick outfield walls at Wrigley Field of the Chicago Cubs along with Japanese bittersweet.
Cultivars include 'Veitchii'.


Parupeneus spilurus, the blackspot goatfish, is a species of goatfish native to the western Pacific ocean, from Japan to Australia and New Zealand.  An inhabitant of coral reefs, it can be found at depths of from 10 to 80 metres (33 to 262 ft).  This species can reach a length of 50 centimetres (20 in) TL.  It is a commercially important species.


Paspalum notatum, known commonly as bahiagrass, common bahia, and Pensacola bahia, is a tropical to subtropical perennial grass (family Poaceae). It is known for its prominent V-shaped inflorescence consisting of two spike-like racemes containing multiple tiny spikelets, each about 2.8–3.5 millimetres (0.11–0.14 in) long.
This grass is low-growing and creeping with stolons and stout, scaly rhizomes. The stolons are pressed firmly to the ground and root freely from the internodes, forming a dense sod. The flat, tough-textured leaves are usually hairless, with blades 2–6 millimetres (0.079–0.236 in) wide. They are flat, folded, and inrolled, tapering to a fine point. The leaf bases at the terminus of each rhizome usually have a purplish hue. The stems reach 20–75 centimetres (7.9–29.5 in) tall.
The terminal dual racemes are each attached to the top of a slender stem or with one slightly below the other. There is occasionally a third. The spikelets closely overlap in two rows. They are broad, rounded, smooth and shiny. Inside each spikelet is a tiny flower. The tiny, black, featherlike stigmas and black stamens can be seen dangling at the tips of the flowers.
Bahia grass is native to Mexico and South America, but has been naturalized elsewhere in North America and in other regions. It prefers sandy soils and is tolerant of shade. It is also fairly hardy, tolerating saline conditions and drought.
This grass is used primarily as a forage. The nutritive value remains high when mature, but it is not very productive. It is also valued as an erosion-controlling soil stabilizer, as well as for its productivity, ease of establishment, and persistence. It makes a relatively low-maintenance turf as well, with its toleration for minimal maintenance, drought tolerance, and with less disease and insect damage than some of the other warm-season grasses.


The southern grey-headed sparrow (Passer diffusus) is a passerine bird of the sparrow family Passeridae. It is sometimes treated as a subspecies of the grey-headed sparrow. It is found in savanna and woodland in Angola and Zambia southwards into South Africa, where it is expanding its range and is kept as a caged bird, like its relative the white-rumped seedeater.


The Italian sparrow (Passer italiae), also known as the cisalpine sparrow, is a passerine bird of the sparrow family Passeridae, found in Italy and other parts of the Mediterranean region. In appearance, it is intermediate between the house sparrow, and the Spanish sparrow, a species of the Mediterranean and Central Asia closely related to the house sparrow. The Italian sparrow occurs in northern Italy and neighbouring regions, with intermediates with the house sparrow in a very narrow contact zone in the Alps, a slow gradation in appearance from the Italian to Spanish sparrows across central and southern Italy, and more birds of intermediate appearance in Malta, Crete, and other parts of the Mediterranean.
There has been much debate on the origins and taxonomic status of the Italian sparrow, especially given its possible hybrid origin. Some have classified it as a subspecies of the house sparrow, a subspecies of the Spanish sparrow, or as a separate species, a treatment followed if only for convenience by authorities such as the Handbook of the Birds of the World. A DNA analysis by Glenn-Peter Sætre and colleagues published in 2011 indicated an origin of the Italian sparrow through hybridisation between the Spanish and house sparrows, and Sætre and colleagues argued that given its origins and the limited extent of hybridisation, the treatment as a distinct species was supported.


The Italian sparrow is a small chunky bird, with grey and brown plumage. The sexes differ in their plumage pattern, and slightly in length. The male has a head patterned like that of the Spanish sparrow, with a chestnut crown, nape and sides of head, and white cheeks. The male's upperparts are bright chestnut, and its underparts are pale grey, lacking the black streaking of the Spanish sparrow. The male has a black patch on its throat and chest, known as a bib or badge. This patch, like much of the male's plumage is dull in fresh non-breeding plumage and is brightened by wear and preening. The female is nearly identical to the female house sparrow, but it differs from the female Spanish sparrow in its lack of black streaks on the underparts. Albinism is occasionally recorded.
The Italian sparrow is about the same size as the house sparrow at 14–16 centimetres (5.5–6.3 in) in length. The tail is 5.3–6 centimetres (2.1–2.4 in), the tarsus 18.6–21 millimetres (0.73–0.83 in), and wing lengths for males are 7.3–8.2 centimetres (2.9–3.2 in). The Italian sparrow's weight varies seasonally from 30 grams (1.1 oz) in the winter to 26 grams (0.92 oz) in the summer.
The vocalisations of the Italian sparrow are similar to those of both the Spanish sparrow and the house sparrow. Its vocalisations carry better in natural environments than those of the house sparrow. The male gives a chreep call like that of the Spanish sparrow to proclaim nest ownership, and a faster version of this as part of courtship display. Male song patterns grade slowly into those of the Spanish sparrow across southern Italy, but in the area of overlap between the house and Italian sparrows, the two birds sound alike.


The taxonomic status of the Italian sparrow has been a matter of debate. It has been variously regarded as a stable hybrid between the house sparrow and Spanish sparrow, or as a subspecies of either the house or Spanish sparrow. Many authorities, including the Handbook of the Birds of the World, recognise it as a separate species, if only for convenience. Others, including many conservation groups, consider the Italian sparrow a simple hybrid and ignore it. The chromosomes of Italian sparrows are distinct from those of the house sparrow, but mitochondrial DNA suggest a close relation to the house sparrow.
A DNA analysis by Jo Hermansen, Glenn-Peter Sætre, and a group of other scientists from Norway published in Molecular Ecology in 2011 indicates that the Italian sparrow originated as a hybrid between house and Spanish sparrows. It has mitochondrial DNA from both parent species. Additionally, it is now breeding beside the Spanish sparrow without cross-breeding in areas where the species both occur. Although it hybridises with the house sparrow in a sparsely populated contact zone in the Alps, the contact zone is characterized by relatively abrupt changes in species-specific male plumage, suggesting that partial reproductive isolation based on plumage may also have developed between these two taxa. As a genetically distinct group that is reproductively isolated from the parental species, it must be recognised as a separate species, according to Hermansen and colleagues.


The Italian sparrow is found in northern and central Italy, Corsica, and small parts of France, Switzerland, Austria, and Slovenia. Its distribution was described by Italian zoologist Enrico Hillyer Giglioli in 1881 as professing "'Conservative opinions'; for it keeps strictly within our current political frontiers". At the northernmost edge of its range in the southern Alps, there is a narrow hybrid zone about 20–30 km (12–20 mi) wide with the house sparrow. In southern Italy, there is a gradual clinal trend with the Spanish sparrow, with birds increasing in their similarity to the Spanish sparrow in appearance and ecology further south, from around Naples to western Sicily, where birds resemble pure Spanish sparrows. However, this trend may be superficial, and the Handbook of the Birds of the World recognises birds from Sicily and Crete as Italian sparrows.
Sardinia is occupied by Spanish sparrows, while sparrows on Malta, Crete, and the adjacent islands are intermediates similar to the Italian sparrow. On Malta, sparrows resemble the Spanish sparrow, with urban birds behaving much like the house sparrow, and rural birds like the Spanish sparrow. The situation is complicated by house and Spanish sparrows which winter and migrate on Malta. A more complex situation occurs in parts of northern Africa, where a highly variable mixed, interbreeding population of house sparrows and Spanish sparrows occurs. This "hybrid swarm" shows a full range of characters from nearly pure house sparrows to nearly pure Spanish sparrows and everything between.
The Italian sparrow is associated with human habitations, inhabiting towns, cities, and agricultural areas. In most cities in Italy, it shares the urban environment with the Eurasian tree sparrow, and in some parts of Naples, it is replaced entirely by this species.
The Italian sparrow's breeding population is believed to comprise 5 to 10 million pairs, 750,000 to 900,000 of which are estimated to live in urban areas. It has a population density of 58 to 160 pairs per square kilometer. Up to the mid-1990s, its population increased steadily, probably due to increased urbanisation. Between 2000 and 2005, the Italian sparrow's population in Italy declined by 27.1 percent, mirroring the declines of the house sparrow throughout Europe. From 1998 to 2008, urban populations declined by about 50 percent. A study of the Italian sparrow's status listed a large number of potential causes for the Italian sparrow's decline, including shortages of insect food, agricultural intensification, and reductions of green areas. The Italian sparrow is among the most common birds in Italian cities, but other species, including the European goldfinch, are more common.


The Italian sparrow's behaviour is similar in many ways to that of the house sparrow. It is a social bird, which feeds mostly on seeds and insects.
It is mostly sedentary, but it wanders to some extent outside its breeding season. These wanderings are mostly local, but they may extend into southern France. Similarly, the house sparrow sometimes occurs as a winter visitor in northern Italy.
Besides intergrading with the Spanish and house sparrows, the Italian sparrow has been recorded hybridising with the Eurasian tree sparrow. The eggs of the Italian sparrow do not seem to differ from those of the house sparrow. Broods may contain two to eight eggs, with an average of about 5.2.


In most of its range, the Italian sparrow is an abundant and familiar bird of houses. It has been one of the wild birds most commonly consumed as food in Italy. Portrayals of the Italian sparrow or one of its relatives have been found at Pompeii. Like the house sparrow, the Italian sparrow is considered a biological indicator of pollution.


The Cape sparrow (Passer melanurus), or mossie, is a bird of the sparrow family Passeridae found in southern Africa. A medium-sized sparrow at 14–16 centimetres (5.5–6.3 in), it has distinctive plumage, including large pale head stripes in both sexes. Its plumage is mostly grey, brown, and chestnut, and the male has some bold black and white markings on its head and neck. The species inhabits semi-arid savannah, cultivated areas, and towns, and ranges from the central coast of Angola to eastern South Africa and Eswatini. Three subspecies are distinguished in different parts of its range.
Cape sparrows primarily eat seeds, and also eat soft plant parts and insects. They typically breed in colonies, and when not breeding they gather in large nomadic flocks to move around in search of food. The nest can be constructed in a tree, a bush, a cavity, or a disused nest of another species. A typical clutch contains three or four eggs, and both parents are involved in breeding, from nest building to feeding young. The Cape sparrow is common in most of its range and coexists successfully in urban habitats with two of its relatives, the native southern grey-headed sparrow and the house sparrow, an introduced species. The Cape sparrow's population has not been recorded decreasing significantly, and it is not seriously threatened by human activities, so it is assessed as a species of least concern by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN).


For a sparrow, the Cape sparrow is strikingly coloured and distinctive, and is medium-sized at 14–16 cm (5.5–6.3 in) long. Adults range in weight from 17 to 38 grams (0.60–1.34 oz). The breeding male has a mostly black head, but with a broad white mark on each side, curling from behind the eye to the throat. On the throat a narrow black band connects the black bib of the breast to black of the head. The underparts are greyish, darker on the flanks. The back of the male's neck is dark grey, and its back and shoulders are bright chestnut. The male has a white and a black wing bar below its shoulders, and flight feathers and tail streaked grey and black.
The female is plumaged like the male, but is duller and has a grey head with a different pattern from the male, though it bears a hint of the pale head markings of the male. The juvenile is like the female, but young males have black markings on the head from an early age.
The Cape sparrow's calls are chirps similar to those of the house sparrow, but much more musical and mellow. The basic call is used in flight and while perching socially and transcribed as chissip, chirrup, chreep, or chirrichup. A loud, distinctive call used by the male to advertise nest ownership can be written as tweeng or twileeng; this call can be extended into a jerky and repetitive song, chip cheerup, chip cheerup.


The Cape sparrow was first taxonomically described by Philipp Ludwig Statius Müller in 1776, as Loxia melanura. Some other earlier biologists described the Cape sparrow in Loxia or Fringilla, but it has otherwise been regarded as a member of the genus Passer along with the house sparrow and other sparrows of the Old World. Within this genus, morphological comparisons and geography were insufficient to elucidate to which species the Cape sparrow is most closely related. Mitochondrial DNA phylogenies have strongly suggested that the Cape sparrow is among the most basal members of its genus, having diverged from the rest of the genus during the late Miocene, over 5 million years ago. It is genetically closest to the southern grey-headed sparrow and the other grey-headed sparrows of Africa and the saxaul sparrow of Central Asia, so these species may be sibling species of the Cape sparrow or similarly early offshoots.
The Cape sparrow's specific epithet comes from the Greek μέλας (melas, "black") and ουρά (oura, "tail"), while the name of the genus Passer comes from a Latin word for small birds.
The Cape sparrow has three subspecies. The nominate subspecies Passer melanurus melanurus is found in western South Africa, east to the western part of Free State. The subspecies vicinus, which is sometimes included in subspecies melanurus, occurs from Free State east to Eastern Cape and Lesotho. The subspecies damarensis ranges from the extreme southern coastal areas of Angola into Namibia, Botswana and southern Zimbabwe, as well as northern South Africa.


The Cape sparrow inhabits southern Africa south of Angola and as far east as Eswatini. The northernmost point in its range is Benguela in Angola, and it is found in the coastal and central parts of Namibia, except for the driest parts of the Namib Desert. It occurs in all of South Africa except the farthest east, in southern Botswana and spottily in the Kalahari Basin of central Botswana. In the east, it breeds at a small number of localities in southeastern Zimbabwe. It has been recorded as a vagrant in Harare, in central Zimbabwe. The eastern limit of its range is reached in the wet forests of Limpopo and KwaZulu Natal, extending into the hills of western Eswatini.
The original habitats of this species were the semi-arid savanna, thornveld, and light woodland typical of southern Africa. When settled agriculture arrived in its range about a thousand years ago, it adapted to cultivated land, and since the arrival of settlement, it has moved into towns. The Cape sparrow prefers habitats with an annual rainfall of less than 75 centimetres (30 in), though in desert areas it is usually found near watercourses or watering holes. While it occurs in urban centres, it prefers parks, gardens, and other open spaces, and has a low reproductive success in more built-up areas.
In towns, the Cape sparrow competes with both the native southern grey-headed sparrow and house sparrow, which was introduced to southern Africa in the 19th century. Since it is more established around humans in its range than either, it successfully competes with both species, though they may exclude it from nesting in holes. A survey by birdwatchers completed in 2000 found the Cape sparrow increasing in abundance in some suburban areas of South Africa (the northern Johannesburg area, and Pietermaritzburg) and decreasing in others (the southern Cape Town area). The house sparrow was reported decreasing in several urban areas, as it has in parts of Europe, declines which are attributed to factors including the increasing density of garden plantings and increases in predation.


The Cape sparrow is social, lives in flocks, and usually breeds in colonies. Away from settled areas it spends much of the year wandering nomadically, in flocks of up to 200 birds. In cultivated and built up areas, smaller flocks form where food is provided for livestock or birds. In such places, it associates with other seed-eating birds, such as the house sparrow, the Cape weaver, and weavers of the genus Euplectes. Birds from urban areas form large flocks seasonally and fly out to the nearby countryside to feed on ripening grain, returning at night to roost.
Cape sparrows prefer to roost in nests, and while wandering outside of the breeding season, birds in uncultivated areas roost socially in old nests or dense bushes. In farmland and towns, Cape sparrows build special nests for roosting, lined more poorly than breeding nests but incorporating a greater quantity of insulating material.
An unusual social behaviour has been described from Cape sparrows in Johannesburg. Groups of 20–30 birds separate from larger flocks and stand close together on the ground with tails on the ground and heads held high. These groups sometimes move in an unconcerted fashion by hopping slowly. Often birds will fly up and hover 30–60 centimetres (12–24 in) above the ground. During these gatherings birds are silent and are never antagonistic. This behaviour's significance is unknown, and it is not reported in any other sparrow species.


The Cape sparrow mostly eats seeds, foraging in trees and on the ground. The larger seeds of cereals, wild grasses, and other small plants are preferred, with wheat and khakiweed (Alternanthera caracasana) being favourites. Buds and soft fruits are also taken, causing considerable damage to agriculture. Insects are eaten, and nestlings seem to be fed exclusively on caterpillars. The Cape sparrow eats the soft shoots of plants, and probes in aloes for nectar, but these are not important sources of food.


The Cape sparrow usually breeds in loose colonies of 50–100 birds. 10 to 20 percent of the breeding birds in each population nest away from colonies, for unknown reasons. The Cape sparrow is usually monogamous, but some records of a male and two females nesting and raising young in one nest have been made in Western Cape. It seems pairs are formed in the non-breeding flocks, but it is not known how pairs are formed, or if the pair bond is for life. Once ready to breed, newly mated pairs look for a suitable nesting site, spending mornings searching, and returning to their flock in the afternoon. Once a site has been selected, both birds begin to build their nest. Other pairs seeking a nest site join them, and in this manner a colony forms quickly.
The courtship display is poorly recorded. Ornithologist J. Denis Summers-Smith observed a display in which the male hopped beside the female in a tree, drooping its wings and ruffling the chestnut-coloured feathers on its back. Groups of two or more males have been observed chasing a female. In the house sparrow a similar display exists, in which a female who is not ready to copulate is chased by her mate, who is joined by other males. It is not known if the display in the Cape sparrow has a similar significance. When ready to mate, the female crouches in solicitation and is mounted by the male. Instances of hybridisation with the house sparrow, the southern grey-headed sparrow, and captives or escapees of the Sudan golden sparrow have been reported.


The Cape sparrow utilises a variety of nesting sites. Bushes and trees, especially acacias, seem to be preferred, and many nests may be built in a single tree. Holes and other covered sites are chosen less frequently. Nests have been recorded from the eaves of buildings, on creepers on walls, in holes in earth banks, and in holes in haystacks. Sometimes the Cape sparrow nests in the disused nests of other birds, such as weavers and swallows. Pairs that nest away from colonies usually choose low bushes or utility poles as nesting sites. Nests are placed at least a metre above the ground, and can be only a few centimetres apart in colonies. Only the nest and its very close vicinity are defended as a territory. Males defend their territory with threatening postures, and sometimes by fighting with bills on the ground.
Nests built in the open are large and untidy domed structures, built of dry grass, twigs, and other plant materials. Any leaves or thorns present in a tree may be worked into the nest. In cavity nests, the hole is filled with a shapeless mass of grass with a cup of soft material containing the eggs on the inside. When the disused domed nests of weavers are used, they are given a soft lining. The nest entrance is on the side, and is sometimes extended into a short funnel. The male and the female construct the nest together, keeping close when finding material and weaving it together. The inside linings of Cape sparrow nests can incorporate large portions of aromatic leaves such as wolbossie (Helichrysum pumilio), thyme (Thymus vulgaris), and camphor (Cinnamomum). This consistent use of aromatics suggests that they have some purpose such as protection against parasites.


Clutches contain between two and six eggs, typically three or four. Variation in clutch size depends on the amount of food available for young birds. Presumably owing to the greater availability of food, clutches are larger during the peak of the breeding season, and in more southern latitudes of the Cape sparrow's range. Both birds of a pair incubate the eggs during the day, switching every ten or fifteen minutes. At night, only the female incubates the eggs, while the male roosts outside or in the nest. In pairs breeding outside of colonies, birds leave the nest to make room for their mates upon hearing their mates approaching. Among colonial pairs, the incubating bird waits until its partner arrives in the nest, to prevent other birds from entering the nest. Incubation seems to begin before the clutch is complete, and lasts 12–24 days.
The young of a clutch hatch over two or three days and are brooded until their feathers develop and eyes open five days after hatching. The young are fed on insects until they fledge 16 to 25, typically 17, days after hatching. After this they are fed for one or two weeks. While feeding nestlings, the female is dominant over the male. Cape sparrows are among the main hosts of brood parasitism by the dideric cuckoo in southern Africa, and sometimes parasitise nests of their own species.


The Cape sparrow is an abundant and familiar bird of human habitations and cultivation in most of southern Africa. It is not believed to be threatened, and accordingly is listed as a species of least concern on the IUCN's Red List. It can be an agricultural pest, especially of grain cultivation and vineyards.
When vineyards in the south-west Cape started letting weeds grow between vines to conserve moisture, around 1956, the Cape sparrow moved in. Cape sparrows quickly exhausted the seeds and started eating the grapes. The Cape sparrow is now a serious pest in vineyards. Vineyards are not an optimal habitat, and some populations have had such a low reproductive success that they could not be maintained without immigration.
The Cape sparrow was featured on the lowest-denomination South African coin, from the farthing (¼-cent) in 1923 to the cent that ceased to be minted in 2002, with designs based on an original by George Kruger Gray. This was said to be because women interned at a concentration camp in Bethulie during the Boer War adopted a biblical quotation (from Matthew 10) as their motto: "Are not two sparrows sold for a farthing? and one of them shall not fall on the ground without your Father." It has also been featured on stamps from Lesotho and the Central African Republic.


The Eurasian tree sparrow (Passer montanus) is a passerine bird in the sparrow family with a rich chestnut crown and nape, and a black patch on each pure white cheek. The sexes are similarly plumaged, and young birds are a duller version of the adult. This sparrow breeds over most of temperate Eurasia and Southeast Asia, where it is known as the tree sparrow, and it has been introduced elsewhere including the United States, where it is known as the Eurasian tree sparrow or German sparrow to differentiate it from the native unrelated American tree sparrow. Although several subspecies are recognised, the appearance of this bird varies little across its extensive range.
The Eurasian tree sparrow's untidy nest is built in a natural cavity, a hole in a building or the disused nest of a European magpie or white stork. The typical clutch is five or six eggs which hatch in under two weeks. This sparrow feeds mainly on seeds, but invertebrates are also consumed, particularly during the breeding season. As with other small birds, infection by parasites and diseases, and predation by birds of prey take their toll, and the typical life span is about two years.
The Eurasian tree sparrow is widespread in the towns and cities of eastern Asia, but in Europe it is a bird of lightly wooded open countryside, with the house sparrow breeding in the more urban areas. The Eurasian tree sparrow's extensive range and large population ensure that it is not endangered globally, but there have been large declines in western European populations, in part due to changes in farming practices involving increased use of herbicides and loss of winter stubble fields. In eastern Asia and western Australia, this species is sometimes viewed as a pest, although it is also widely celebrated in oriental art.


The Eurasian tree sparrow is 12.5–14 cm (5–5+1⁄2 in) long, with a wingspan of about 21 cm (8.3 in) and a weight of 24 g (0.85 oz), making it roughly 10% smaller than the house sparrow. The adult's crown and nape are rich chestnut, and there is a kidney-shaped black ear patch on each pure white cheek; the chin, throat, and the area between the bill and throat are black. The upperparts are light brown, streaked with black, and the brown wings have two distinct narrow white bars. The legs are pale brown, and the bill is lead-blue in summer, becoming almost black in winter.
This sparrow is distinctive even within its genus in that it has no plumage differences between the sexes; the juvenile also resembles the adult, although the colours tend to be duller. Its contrasting face pattern makes this species easily identifiable in all plumages; the smaller size and brown, not grey, crown are additional differences from the male house sparrow. Adult and juvenile Eurasian tree sparrows undergo a slow complete moult in the autumn, and show an increase in body mass despite a reduction in stored fat. The change in mass is due to an increase in blood volume to support active feather growth, and a generally higher water content in the body.
The Eurasian tree sparrow has no true song, but its vocalisations include an excited series of tschip calls given by unpaired or courting males. Other monosyllabic chirps are used in social contacts, and the flight call is a harsh teck. A study comparing the vocalisations of the introduced Missouri population with those of birds from Germany showed that the US birds had fewer shared syllable types (memes) and more structure within the population than the European sparrows. This may have resulted from the small size of the founding North American population and a consequent loss of genetic diversity.


The Old World sparrow genus Passer is a group of small passerine birds that is believed to have originated in Africa, and which contains 15–25 species depending on the authority. Its members are typically found in open, lightly wooded, habitats, although several species, notably the house sparrow (P. domesticus) have adapted to human habitations. Most species in the genus are typically 10–20 cm (3.9–7.9 in) long, predominantly brown or greyish birds with short square tails and stubby conical beaks. They are primarily ground-feeding seed-eaters, although they also consume invertebrates, especially when breeding. Genetic studies show that the Eurasian tree sparrow diverged from the other Eurasian members of its genus relatively early, before the speciation of the house, plain-backed and Spanish sparrows. The Eurasian species is not closely related to the American tree sparrow (Spizelloides arborea), which is in a different family, the New World sparrows.
The Eurasian tree sparrow's binomial name is derived from two Latin words: passer, "sparrow", and montanus, "of the mountains" (from mons "mountain"). The Eurasian tree sparrow was first described by Carl Linnaeus in his 1758 Systema Naturae as Fringilla montana, but, along with the house sparrow, it was soon moved from the finches (family Fringillidae) into the new genus Passer created by French zoologist Mathurin Jacques Brisson in 1760. The Eurasian tree sparrow's common name is given because of its preference of tree holes for nesting. This name, and the scientific name montanus, do not appropriately describe this species's habitat preferences: the German name Feldsperling ("field sparrow") comes closer to doing so.


This species varies little in appearance across its large range, and the differences between the seven extant subspecies recognised by Clement are slight. At least 15 other subspecies have been proposed, but they are considered to be intermediates of the listed subspecies.
The European tree sparrow (P. m. montanus), the nominate subspecies, ranges across Europe except for the southwestern Iberian Peninsula, southern Greece and the former Yugoslavia. It also breeds in Asia east to the Lena River and south to the northern regions of Turkey, the Caucasus, Kazakhstan and Mongolia and in North Korea.
The Caucasian tree sparrow (P. m. transcaucasicus), described by Sergei Aleksandrovich Buturlin in 1906, breeds from the southern regions of the Caucasus east to northern Iran. It is duller and greyer than the nominate subspecies.
The Afghan tree sparrow (P. m. dilutus), described by Charles Wallace Richmond in 1856, is resident in extreme northeastern Iran, northern Pakistan and northwestern India. It also occurs further north, from Uzbekistan and Tajikistan east to China. Compared to P. m. montanus, it is paler, with sandy-brown upperparts.
The Tibetan tree sparrow (P. m. tibetanus), the largest subspecies by size, was described by Stuart Baker in 1925. It is found in the northern Himalayas, from Nepal east through Tibet to northwestern China. It resembles P. m. dilutus, but is darker.
P. m. saturatus, described by Leonhard Hess Stejneger in 1885, breeds in Sakhalin, the Kuril Islands, Japan, Taiwan and South Korea. It is deeper brown than the nominate subspecies and has a larger bill.
P. m. malaccensis, described by Alphonse Dubois in 1885, is found from the southern Himalayas east to Hainan and Indonesia. It is a dark-coloured subspecies, like P. m. saturatus, but is smaller and more heavily streaked on its upperparts.
P. m. hepaticus, described by Sidney Dillon Ripley in 1948, breeds from northeastern Assam to northwestern Burma. It is similar in appearance to P. m. saturatus, but redder on its head and upperparts.


The Eurasian tree sparrow's natural breeding range comprises most of temperate Europe and Asia south of about latitude 68°N (north of this the summers are too cold, with July average temperatures below 12 °C (54 °F)) and through Southeast Asia to Java and Bali. It formerly bred in the Faroes, Malta and Gozo. In South Asia it is found mainly in the temperate zone. It is sedentary over most of its extensive range, but northernmost breeding populations migrate south for the winter, and small numbers leave southern Europe for North Africa and the Middle East. The eastern subspecies P. m. dilutus reaches coastal Pakistan in winter and thousands of birds of this race move through eastern China in autumn.
The Eurasian tree sparrow has been introduced outside its native range, but has not always become established, possibly due to competition with the house sparrow. It was introduced successfully to Sardinia, eastern Indonesia, the Philippines and Micronesia, but introductions to New Zealand and Bermuda did not take root. Ship-carried birds colonised Borneo. This sparrow has occurred as a natural vagrant to Gibraltar, Tunisia, Algeria, Egypt, Israel, the United Arab Emirates, Morocco and Iceland.
In North America, a population of about 15,000 birds has become established around St. Louis and neighbouring parts of Illinois and southeastern Iowa. These sparrows are descended from 12 birds imported from Germany and released in late April 1870 as part of a project to enhance the native North American avifauna. Within its limited US range of about 22,000 square kilometres (8,500 sq mi), the Eurasian tree sparrow has to compete with the house sparrow in urban centres, and is therefore mainly found in parks, farms and rural woods. The American population is sometimes referred to as the "German sparrow", to distinguish it from both the native American tree sparrow species and the much more widespread "English" house sparrow.
In Australia, the Eurasian tree sparrow is present in Melbourne, towns in central and northern Victoria and some centres in the Riverina region of New South Wales. It is a prohibited species in Western Australia, where it often arrives on ships from Southeast Asia.
Despite its scientific name, Passer montanus, this is not typically a mountain species, and reaches only 700 m (2,300 ft) in Switzerland, although it has bred at 1,700 m (5,600 ft) in the northern Caucasus and as high as 4,270 m (14,010 ft) in Nepal. In Europe, it is frequently found on coasts with cliffs, in empty buildings, in pollarded willows along slow water courses, or in open countryside with small isolated patches of woodland. The Eurasian tree sparrow shows a strong preference for nest-sites near wetland habitats, and avoids breeding on intensively managed mixed farmland.
When the Eurasian tree sparrow and the larger house sparrow occur in the same area, the house sparrow generally breeds in urban areas while the smaller Eurasian tree sparrow nests in the countryside. Where trees are in short supply, as in Mongolia, both species may utilise man-made structures as nest sites. The Eurasian tree sparrow is rural in Europe, but is an urban bird in eastern Asia; in southern and central Asia, both Passer species may be found around towns and villages. In parts of the Mediterranean, such as Italy, both the tree and the Italian or Spanish sparrows may be found in settlements. In Australia, the Eurasian tree sparrow is largely an urban bird, and it is the house sparrow which utilises more natural habitats.


The Eurasian tree sparrow reaches breeding maturity within a year from hatching, and typically builds its nest in a cavity in an old tree or rock face. Some nests are not in holes as such, but are built among roots of overhanging gorse or similar bush. Roof cavities in houses may be used, and in the tropics, the crown of a palm tree or the ceiling of a verandah can serve as a nest site.  This species will breed in the disused domed nest of a European magpie, or an active or unused stick nest of a large bird such as the white stork, white-tailed eagle, osprey, black kite or grey heron. It will sometimes attempt to take over the nest of other birds that breed in holes or enclosed spaces, such as the barn swallow, house martin, sand martin or European bee-eater.
Pairs may breed in isolation or in loose colonies, and will readily use nest boxes. In a Spanish study, boxes made from a mixture of wood and concrete (woodcrete) had a much higher occupancy rate than wooden boxes (76.5% versus 33.5%), and birds nesting in woodcrete sites had earlier clutches, a shorter incubation period and more breeding attempts per season. Clutch size and chick condition did not differ between nest box types, but reproductive success was higher in woodcrete, perhaps because the synthetic nests were 1.5 °C warmer than their wooden counterparts.
The male calls from near the nest site in spring to proclaim ownership and attract a mate. He may also carry nest material into the nest hole. The display and nest building is repeated in autumn. The preferred locations for the autumn display are old Eurasian tree sparrow nests, particularly those where nestlings had hatched. Empty nest boxes, and sites used by house sparrows or other hole nesting birds, such as tits, pied flycatchers or common redstarts, are rarely used for the autumn display.
The untidy nest is composed of hay, grass, wool or other material and lined with feathers, which improve the thermal insulation. A complete nest consists of three layers; base, lining and dome. The typical clutch is five or six eggs (rarely more than four in Malaysia), white to pale grey and heavily marked with spots, small blotches, or speckling; they are 20 mm × 14 mm (0.79 in × 0.55 in) in size and weigh 2.1 g (0.074 oz), of which 7% is shell. The eggs are incubated by both parents for 12–13 days before the altricial, naked chicks hatch, and a further 15–18 days elapse before they fledge. Two or three broods may be raised each year; birds breeding in colonies produce more eggs and fledglings from their first broods than solitary pairs, but the reverse is true for second and third clutches. Females which copulate frequently tend to lay more eggs and have a shorter incubation time, so within-pair mating may be an indicator of the pairs' reproductive ability. There is a significant level of promiscuity; in a Hungarian study, more than 9% of chicks were sired by extra-pair males, and 20% of the broods contained at least one extra-pair young.
Hybridisation between the Eurasian tree sparrow and the house sparrow has been recorded in many parts of the world with male hybrids tending to resemble the Eurasian tree sparrow while females have more similarities with the house sparrow. A breeding population in the Eastern Ghats of India, said to be introduced, may also hybridise with house sparrows. On at least one occasion a mixed pair has resulted in fertile young. A wild hybridisation with the resident sparrows of Malta, which are intermediate between the Spanish sparrow (P. hispaniolensis) and Italian sparrows (P. italiae), was recorded in Malta in 1975.


The Eurasian tree sparrow is a predominantly seed and grain eating bird which feeds on the ground in flocks, often with house sparrows, finches, or buntings. It eats weed seeds, such as chickweeds and goosefoot, spilled grain, and it may also visit feeding stations, especially for peanuts. It will also feed on invertebrates, especially during the breeding season when the young are fed mainly on animal food; it takes insects, woodlice, millipedes, centipedes, spiders and harvestmen.
Adults use a variety of wetlands when foraging for invertebrate prey to feed nestlings, and aquatic sites play a key role in providing adequate diversity and availability of suitable invertebrate prey to allow successful chick rearing throughout the long breeding season of this multi-brooded species. Large areas of formerly occupied farmland no longer provide these invertebrate resources due to the effects of intensive farming, and the availability of supplementary seed food within 1 kilometre (0.62 mi) of the nest-site does not influence nest-site choice, or affect the number of young raised.
In winter, seed resources are most likely to be a key limiting factor. At this time of year, individuals in a flock form linear dominance hierarchies, but there is no strong relation between the size of the throat patch and position in that hierarchy. This is in contrast to the house sparrow; in that species, fights to establish dominance are reduced by the display of the throat patch, the size of which acts as a signalling "badge" of fitness.  Although there is evidence that the black throat patch of male, but not female, tree sparrows predicts fighting success in foraging flocks.
The risk of predation affects feeding strategies. A study showed increased distance between shelter and a food supply meant that birds visited a feeder in smaller flocks, spent less time on it and were more vigilant when far from shelter. Sparrows can feed as "producers", searching for food directly, or "scroungers", just joining other flock members who have already discovered food. Scrounging was 30% more likely at exposed feeding sites, although this is not due to increased anti-predator vigilance. A possible explanation is that riskier places are used by individuals with lower fat reserves.


Predators of the Eurasian tree sparrow include a variety of accipiters, falcons and owls, such as the Eurasian sparrowhawk, common kestrel, little owl, and sometimes long-eared owl and white stork. It does not appear to be at an increased risk of predation during its autumn moult, despite having fewer flight feathers at that time. Nests may be raided by Eurasian magpies, jays, least weasels, rats, cats, and constricting snakes such as the horseshoe whip snake.
Many species of bird lice are present on the birds and in their nests, and mites of the genus Knemidocoptes have been known to infest populations, resulting in lesions on the legs and toes. Parasitisation of nestlings by Protocalliphora blow-fly larvae is a significant factor in nestling mortality. Egg size does not influence nestling mortality, but chicks from large eggs grow faster.
Eurasian tree sparrows are also subject to bacterial and viral infections. Bacteria have been shown to be an important factor in the failure of eggs to hatch and in nestling mortality, and mass deaths due to Salmonella infection have been noted in Japan. Avian malaria parasites have been found in the blood of many populations, and birds in China were found to harbour a strain of H5N1 that was highly virulent to chickens.
The immune response of Eurasian tree sparrows is less robust than that of the house sparrow and has been proposed as a factor in the greater invasive potential of the latter. The house sparrow and Eurasian tree sparrow are the most frequent victims of roadkill on the roads of Central, Eastern and Southern Europe. The maximum recorded age is 13.1 years, but three years is a typical lifespan.


The Eurasian tree sparrow has a large range estimated as 98.3 million square kilometres (38.0 million sq mi) and a population of 190–310 million individuals. Although the population is declining, the species is not believed to approach the thresholds for the population decline criterion of the IUCN Red List (that is, declining more than 30% in 10 years or three generations). For these reasons, the species' conservation status is evaluated at the global level as being of Least Concern.
Although the Eurasian tree sparrow has been expanding its range in Fennoscandia and eastern Europe, populations have been declining in much of western Europe, a trend reflected in other farmland birds such as the skylark, corn bunting and northern lapwing. From 1980 to 2003, common farmland bird numbers fell by 28%. The collapse in populations seems to have been particularly severe in Great Britain, where there was a 95% decline between 1970 and 1998, and Ireland, which had only 1,000–1,500 pairs in the late 1990s. In the British Isles, such declines may be due to natural fluctuations, to which Eurasian tree sparrows are known to be prone. Breeding performance has improved substantially as population sizes have decreased, suggesting that decreases in productivity were not responsible for the decline and that survival was the critical factor. The large decline in Eurasian tree sparrow numbers is probably the result of agricultural intensification and specialisation, particularly the increased use of herbicides and a trend towards autumn-sown crops (at the expense of spring-sown crops that produce stubble fields in winter). The change from mixed to specialised farming and the increased use of insecticides has reduced the amount of insect food available for nestlings.


The Eurasian tree sparrow is seen as a pest in some areas. In Australia, it damages many cereal and fruit crops and spoils cereal crops, animal feed and stored grain with its droppings. Quarantine rules prohibit the transport of this species into Western Australia.
Chairman Mao Zedong of China attempted in April 1958 to reduce crop damage by Eurasian tree sparrows, which was estimated to be 4.5 kg (9.9 lb) of grain per bird each year, by mobilising millions of people and many scarecrows to drive the birds to death by exhaustion. Although successful at reducing the sparrow population, the "Four pests campaign" had overlooked the numbers of locusts and other insect pests consumed by the birds. Crop yields collapsed, exacerbating a famine which led to the deaths of 30 million people between 1959 and 1961. The Eurasian tree sparrow's consumption of insects has led to its use in agriculture to control fruit tree pests and the common asparagus beetle (Crioceris aspergi).
The Eurasian tree sparrow has long been depicted in Chinese and Japanese art, often on a plant spray or in a flying flock, and representations by oriental artists including Hiroshige have featured on the postage stamps of Antigua and Barbuda, Central African Republic, China, and the Gambia. More straightforward illustrations were used on the stamps of Belarus, Belgium, Cambodia, Estonia, and Taiwan. The fluttering of the bird gave rise to a traditional Japanese dance, the Suzume Odori, developed in Sendai, which was depicted by artists such as Hokusai.
In the Philippines, where it is one of several species referred to as maya, and is sometimes specifically referred to as the "mayang simbahan" ("church maya" or "church sparrow"), the Eurasian tree sparrow is the most common bird in the cities. Many urban Filipinos confuse it with the former national bird of the Philippines, the black-headed munia –  also called a maya, but specifically differentiated in folk taxa as the "mayang pula" ("red maya").


The fox sparrow (Passerella iliaca) is a large New World sparrow. It is the only member of the genus Passerella, although some authors split the species into four (see below).


More specific information regarding plumage is available in the accounts for the various taxa.
Red fox sparrow, P. i. iliaca (Merrem, 1786) – this taxon breeds in the taiga of Canada and Alaska and winters in central and eastern North America. This is the brightest colored group.
Sooty fox sparrow, P. i. unalaschcensis (Gmelin, JF, 1789) – this taxon breeds along the Pacific coast of North America from the Aleutian Islands south to northwestern Washington, and winters from southeastern Alaska south to northern Baja California. It is browner and darker than the red fox sparrow.
Slate-colored fox sparrow, P. i. schistacea Baird, SF, 1858 – this taxon breeds in interior western North America and winters to the south and west. It has a gray head and mantle, brown wings, brown breast streaks, and a russet tail.
Thick-billed fox sparrow, P. i. megarhyncha Baird, SF, 1858 – this taxon is mostly restricted to California and Oregon. This group is similar in coloration to the slate-colored fox sparrow, but features a particularly thick bill, as its name suggests.


These birds forage by scratching the ground, which makes them vulnerable to cats and other predators, though they are generally common. Fox sparrows migrate on the west coast of the United States.


They mainly eat seeds and insects, as well as some berries. Coastal fox sparrows may also eat crustaceans.


Fox sparrows nest in wooded areas across northern Canada and western North America from Alaska to California. They nest either in a sheltered location on the ground or low in trees or shrubs. A nest typically contains two to five pale green to greenish white eggs speckled with reddish brown.


The review by Zink & Weckstein (2003), which added mtDNA cytochrome b, NADH dehydrogenase subunit 2 and 3, and D-loop sequence, confirmed the four "subspecies groups" of the fox sparrow that were outlined by the initial limited mtDNA haplotype comparison (Zink 1994). These should probably be recognized as separate species, but this was deferred for further analysis of hybridization. Particularly the contact zones between the slate-colored and thick-billed fox sparrows which are only weakly distinct morphologically were of interest; the other groups were found to be distinct far earlier. A further study of the nuclear genome, using microsatellites, showed similar separation between the four groups.
The combined molecular data is unable to resolve the interrelationship of the subspecies groups and of the subspecies in these, but aids in confirming the distinctness of the thick-billed group. Biogeography indicates that the coastal populations were probably isolated during an epoch of glaciation of the Rocky Mountains range, but this is also not very helpful in resolving the remaining problems of within-group diversity, and inter-group relationships.
Major taxonomic authorities currently differ in their treatment of the fox sparrow complex. The IOC World Bird List/Birds of the World: Recommended English Names and the HBW and BirdLife International Illustrated Checklist of the Birds of the World treat each of the four subspecies groups as a separate species, while eBird/The Clements Checklist of Birds of the World and The Howard and Moore Complete Checklist of the Birds of the World currently treat the complex as a single species.


Weckstein, J. D., D. E. Kroodsma, and R. C. Faucett. (2002). Fox Sparrow (Passerella iliaca). The Birds of North America Online (A. Poole, Ed.). Ithaca: Cornell Laboratory of Ornithology; Retrieved from The Birds of North American Online database


Anon (1968). "Fox Sparrow Very Rare Summer Resident 10-11-65 Swamp Sparrow Rare Winter Visitor 9-11-67 10-29-67 Lykins Gulch Colorado USA". Colorado Field Ornithologist. 4: 13–14.
Banks, RC (1970). "The Fox Sparrow on the West Slope of the Oregon Cascades". Condor. 72 (3): 369–370. doi:10.2307/1366023. JSTOR 1366023.
Bell, CP (1997). "Leap-frog migration in the fox sparrow:: Minimizing the cost of spring migration". Condor. 99 (2): 470–477. doi:10.2307/1369953. JSTOR 1369953.
Blankson ENT & McKernan RL. (1995). Evolutionary and ecological considerations of seven subspecies of the fox sparrow (Passerella iliaca) wintering in California. Strauss, M. vol S, p. Unity in Diversity.
Burns, KJ (1993). "Geographic variation in ontogeny of the fox sparrow". Condor. 95 (3): 652–661. doi:10.2307/1369608. JSTOR 1369608. S2CID 53062826.
Burns, KJ; Hackett, SJ (1993). "Nest and nest-site characteristics of a western population of fox sparrow (Passerella iliaca)". Southwestern Naturalist. 38 (3): 277–279. doi:10.2307/3671433. JSTOR 3671433. S2CID 53055485.
Burns, KJ; Zink, RM (1990). "Temporal and Geographic Homogeneity of Gene Frequencies in the Fox Sparrow Passerella-Iliaca". Auk. 107 (2): 421–425. doi:10.2307/4087632. JSTOR 4087632.
Christie, DS (1968). "Summer Occurrence of the Fox Sparrow in New-Brunswick Canada Passerella-Iliaca". Canadian Field-Naturalist. 82 (1).
Hubert, P; Smith, A (1974). "Possible Fox Sparrow Nesting in Minnesota". Loon. 46 (1).
Jewer, OD; Threlfall, W (1978). "Parasites of the Fox Sparrow Passerella-Iliaca and Northern Waterthrush Seiurus-Noveboracensis in Newfoundland Canada". Proceedings of the Helminthological Society of Washington. 45 (2): 270–272.
Johnson, JW; Johnson, L (1972). "Fox Sparrow Observations in the Huron Area". South Dakota Bird Notes. 24: 4.
Martin, DJ (1977). "Songs of the Fox Sparrow Part 1 Structure of Song and Its Comparison with Song in Other Emberizidae". Condor. 79 (2): 209–221. doi:10.2307/1367164. JSTOR 1367164.
Martin, DJ (1979). "Songs of the Fox Sparrow Passerella-Iliaca 2. Intra Population and Inter Population Variation". Condor. 81 (2): 173–184. doi:10.2307/1367286. JSTOR 1367286.
Martin, DJ (1980). "Response by Male Fox Sparrows Passerella-Iliaca to Broadcast of Particular Con Specific Songs". Wilson Bulletin. 92 (1): 21–32.
Martin, DJ (1990). "Songs of the Fox Sparrow 3. Ordering of song". Wilson Bulletin. 102 (4): 655–671.
Martin, DJ; Naugler, CT; Smith, PC (1993). "Song similarity in populations of fox sparrows: A rejection of Naugler's and Smith's conclusions—Comment/reply". The Condor. 95 (4): 1057. doi:10.2307/1369448. JSTOR 1369448.
Naugler, CT; Smith, PC (1991). "Song Similarity in an Isolated Population of Fox Sparrows Passerella-Iliaca". Condor. 93 (4): 1001–1003. doi:10.2307/3247734. JSTOR 3247734.
Peyton, LJ (1971). "Geographical Variation of Fox Sparrow Songs in Alaska". Proceedings of the Alaska Science Conference. 22 (39).
Robert, MZ; Jason, DW (2003). "Recent evolutionary history of the Fox Sparrows (Genus: Passerella)". The Auk. 120 (2): 522. doi:10.1642/0004-8038(2003)120[0522:REHOTF]2.0.CO;2. S2CID 85871498.
Ryan, AG (1974). "An Incubation Period and a Nestling Period for the Fox Sparrow". Canadian Field-Naturalist. 88 (2): 230–231.
Schmid, U (1979). "2 Rare Guest Birds on North Sea Island of Scharhoern West Germany Fox Sparrow Passerella-Iliaca and Scarlet Grosbeak Carpodacus-Erythrinus". Vogelkundliche Berichte aus Niedersachsen. 11 (2): 45–46.
Threlfall, W; Blacquiere, JR (1982). "Breeding Biology of the Fox Sparrow Passerella-Iliaca in Newfoundland Canada". Journal of Field Ornithology. 53 (3): 235–239.
Webster, JD (1975). "The Fox Sparrow in Southwestern Yukon and Adjacent Areas". Condor. 77 (2): 215–216. doi:10.2307/1365798. JSTOR 1365798.
Webster, JD (1983). "Passerella-Iliaca-Chilcatensis New-Subspecies a Fox Sparrow from Alaska USA". Proceedings of the Biological Society of Washington. 96 (4): 664–668.
Zink, RM (1983). "Evolutionary and Systematic Significance of Temporal Variation in the Fox Sparrow Passerella-Iliaca". Systematic Zoology. 32 (3): 223–238. doi:10.2307/2413443. JSTOR 2413443.
Zink, RM (2008). "Microsatellite and Mitochondrial DNA Differentiation in the Fox Sparrow". The Condor. 110 (3): 482–492. doi:10.1525/cond.2008.8496. S2CID 86360069.


The blue grosbeak (Passerina caerulea), is a medium-sized North American passerine bird in the cardinal family Cardinalidae. It is mainly migratory, wintering in Central America and breeding in northern Mexico and the southern United States. The male is blue with two brown wing bars. The female is mainly brown with scattered blue feathers on the upperparts and two brown wing bars.


The blue grosbeak was formally described by the Swedish naturalist Carl Linnaeus in 1758 in the tenth edition of his Systema Naturae under the binomial name Loxia caerulea. The specific epithet caerulea is the Latin word for "blue", "azure-blue", "sky-blue" or "dark-blue". Linnaeus based his own description on the "blew gross-beak" described and illustrated by Mark Catesby in his The Natural History of Carolina, Florida and the Bahama Islands. The book had been published in 1729–1732. Catesby gave the location as Carolina and Linnaeus specified America. The type location is now restricted to South Carolina.
Some taxonomists placed the blue grosbeak in its own monotypic genus Guiraca but in 2001 a molecular phylogenetic study of mitochondrial DNA sequences found that the blue grosbeak, in spite of being physically larger, nested within the Passerina and was most closely related to the lazuli bunting. The species is therefore now placed with the North American buntings in Passerina, a genus that was introduced by the French ornithologist Louis Jean Pierre Vieillot in 1816.
Seven subspecies are recognised:
P. c. caerulea (Linnaeus, 1758) – southeast and south central USA
P. c. interfusa (Dwight & Griscom, 1927) – west central USA and north Mexico
P. c. salicaria (Grinnell, 1911) – southwest USA and northwest Mexico
P. c. eurhyncha (Coues, 1874) – central and south Mexico
P. c. chiapensis (Nelson, 1898) – south Mexico to Guatemala
P. c. deltarhyncha (Van Rossem, 1938) – west Mexico
P. c. lazula (Lesson, R, 1842) – south Guatemala to northwest Costa Rica


The male blue grosbeak is deep blue, with both black and brown on its wings. The female is mostly brown. Both sexes are distinguished by their large, deep bill and double wing bars. These features, as well as the grosbeak's relatively larger size, distinguish this species from the indigo bunting. Length can range from 14 to 19 cm (5.5 to 7.5 in) and wingspan is from 26 to 29 cm (10 to 11 in). Body mass is typically from 26 to 31.5 g (0.92 to 1.11 oz).


The blue grosbeak nests in a low tree or bush or a tangle of vegetation, usually about 1–2.5 m (3.3–8.2 ft) above ground, often at the edge of an open area.


It eats mostly insects, but it will also eat snails, spiders, seeds, grains, and wild fruits. The blue grosbeak forages mainly on the ground.


The painted bunting (Passerina ciris) is a species of bird in the cardinal family, Cardinalidae. It is native to North America. The bright plumage of the male only comes in the second year of life; in the first year they can only be distinguished from the female by close inspection.


The painted bunting was originally described by Carl Linnaeus in his eighteenth-century work Systema Naturae. There are two recognized subspecies of the painted bunting.
P. c. ciris – (Linnaeus, 1758): nominate, breeds in the southeastern United States
P. c. pallidior – Mearns, 1911: breeds in south central US and northern Mexico
The painted bunting is also called the Mexican canary, painted finch, pope, or nonpareil.


The male painted bunting is often described as the most beautiful bird in North America and as such has been nicknamed nonpareil, or "without equal". Its colors, dark blue head, green back, red rump, and underparts, make it extremely easy to identify, but it can still be difficult to spot since it often skulks in foliage even when it is singing. The plumage of female and juvenile painted buntings is green and yellow-green, serving as camouflage. Once seen, the adult female is still distinctive, since it is a brighter, truer green than other similar songbirds. Adult painted buntings can measure 12–14 cm (4.7–5.5 in) in length, span 21–23 cm (8.3–9.1 in) across the wings and weigh 13–19 g (0.46–0.67 oz).
The juveniles have two inserted molts in their first autumn, each yielding plumage like an adult female.  The first starts a few days after fledging, replacing the juvenile plumage with an auxiliary formative plumage; and the second a month or so later giving the formative plumage.
Painted bunting eggs are pale blue-white speckled or spotted with brown. Three to four eggs (or occasionally five) appear from March to July in cup-shaped nests usually built in brush or low trees, usually 3 to 6 feet from the ground but up to 12 feet.


The painted bunting occupies typical habitat for a member of its family. It is found in thickets, woodland edges with riparian thickets, shrubbery and brushy areas. In the east, the species breeds in maritime hammocks and scrub communities. Today, it is often found along roadsides and in suburban areas, and in gardens with dense, shrubby vegetation. The wintering habitat is typically the shrubby edges along the border of tropical forests or densely vegetated savanna.  The breeding range is divided into two geographically separate areas.  These include southern Arizona, southern New Mexico, southern and eastern Texas, Oklahoma, Arkansas, Louisiana, northern Florida, coastal Georgia, the southern coast and inland waterways such as the Santee River of South Carolina and northern Mexico. They winter in South Florida, Cuba, the Bahamas, along both coasts of Mexico and through much of Central America. Occasionally, they may be vagrants further north, including to New York, Pennsylvania, and New Jersey. The bird is also found every few years as far north as New Brunswick, Canada. Genetic analyses showed that the species can be divided into three main groups on their breeding grounds: a western, central and eastern group.


Painted buntings are shy, secretive and often difficult to observe with the human eye, though can be fairly approachable where habituated to bird feeders. Males sing in spring from exposed perches to advertise their territories. They also engage in visual displays including flying bouncingly like a butterfly or in an upright display, body-fluff display, bow display and wing-quiver display. These displays are used in agonistic conflicts with other males or in breeding displays for females, with females rarely engaging in displays. Occasionally, males may physically clash with each other and may even kill each other in such conflicts. When their breeding season has concluded, buntings migrate by night over short to medium distances. Western birds (Arizona and northern Mexico) molt in mid-migration, while eastern birds tend to molt before they migrate.


Painted buntings often feed by hopping along the ground, cautiously stopping every few moments to look around. They regularly eat seeds of grasses, such as Panicum, of sedges such as Carex, and forbs such as Amaranthus, Oxalis, and Euphorbia. In winter painted bunting eat seeds almost exclusively, but while breeding, and in feeding their nestlings, they mainly seek out small invertebrates, including spiders, snails, and insects such as grasshoppers and caterpillars. Sometimes they visit spider webs opportunistically to pick off insects caught in them.


Painted buntings are mostly monogamous and are solitary or in pairs during the breeding season, but sometimes exhibit polygyny. The breeding season begins in late April and lasts through to early August, with activity peaking mid-May through to mid-July. The male arrives about a week before the female and starts to establish a small territory. The nest is typically hidden in low, dense vegetation and is built by the females and woven into the surrounding vegetation for strength. Each brood contains three or four gray-white eggs, often spotted with brown, which are incubated for around 10 days until the altricial young are hatched. The female alone cares for the young. The hatchlings are brooded for approximately 12 to 14 days and then fledge at that time. About 30 days after the first eggs hatch, the female painted bunting usually lays a second brood. Nests are often parasitized by cowbirds. Common predators at the nest of eggs, young, and brooding females are large snakes, including coachwhip snakes, eastern kingsnakes, eastern racers and black rat snakes. The painted bunting can live to over 10 years of age, though most wild buntings probably live barely half that long.


The male painted bunting was once a very popular caged bird, but its capture and holding is currently illegal. Trapping for overseas sale may still occur in Central America. Populations are primarily declining due to habitat being lost to development, especially in coastal swamp thickets and woodland edges in the east and riparian habitats in migration and winter in the Southeastern United States and Mexico. They are protected by the U.S. Migratory Bird Act.


Lowther, P.E.; Lanyon, S.M.; Thompson, C.W. (1999).  Poole, A.; Gill, F. (eds.). Painted Bunting (Passerina ciris). The Birds of North America. Philadelphia, PA: The Birds of North America, Inc.


Academy Of Natural Sciences Of P. (1999). Painted Bunting: Passerina ciris. Birds of North America. vol 0, no 398. p. 1-23.
Barber DR & Martin TE. (1997). Influence of alternate host densities on brown-headed Cowbird parasitism rates in black-capped Vireos. Condor. vol 99, no 3. p. 595-604.
Bochkov AV, Fain A & Skoracki M. (2004). New quill mites of the family Syringophilidae (Acari : Cheyletoidea). Systematic Parasitology. vol 57, no 2. p. 135-150.
Brennan SP & Schnell GD. (2005). Relationship between bird abundances and landscape characteristics: The influence of scale. Environmental Monitoring & Assessment. vol 105, no 1–3. p. 209-228.
Conner RN, Dickson JG, Williamson JH & Ortego BN. (2004). Width of forest streamside zones and breeding bird abundance in eastern Texas. Southeastern Naturalist. vol 3, no 4. p. 669-682.
Durden LA, Oliver JH & Kinsey AA. (2001). Ticks (Acari : Ixodidae) and spirochetes (Spirochaetaceae : Spirochaetales) recovered from birds on a Georgia barrier island. Journal of Medical Entomology. vol 38, no 2. p. 231-236.
Kilgo JC & Moorman CE. (2003). Patterns of cowbird parasitism in the southern Atlantic coastal plain and piedmont. Wilson Bulletin. vol 115, no 3. p. 277-284.
Klicka J, Fry AJ, Zink RM & Thompson CW. (2001). A cytochrome-b perspective on Passerina bunting relationships. Auk. vol 118, no 3. p. 611-623.
Kopachena JG & Crist CJ. (2000). Macro-habitat features associated with painted and Indigo Buntings in northeast Texas. Wilson Bulletin. vol 112, no 1. p. 108-114.
Kopachena JG & Crist CJ. (2000). Microhabitat features associated with the song perches of Painted and Indigo Buntings (Passeriformes : Cardinalidae) in northeast Texas. Texas Journal of Science. vol 52, no 2. p. 133-144.
Lanyon SM & Thompson CF. (1984). Visual Displays and Their Context in the Painted Bunting Passerina-Ciris. Wilson Bulletin. vol 96, no 3. p. 396-407.
Lanyon SM & Thompson CF. (1986). Site Fidelity and Habitat Quality as Determinants of Settlement Pattern in Male Painted Buntings Passerina-Ciris. Condor. vol 88, no 2. p. 206-210.
Norris DJ & Elder WH. (1982). Distribution and Habitat Characteristics of the Painted Bunting Passerina-Ciris in Missouri USA. Transactions of the Missouri Academy of Science. vol 16, p. 77-84.
Quay WB. (1985). Cloacal Sperm in Spring Migrants Occurrence and Interpretation. Condor. vol 87, no 2. p. 273-280.
Spicer GS. (1977). 2 New Nasal Mites of the Genus Ptilonyssus Mesostigmata Rhinonyssidae from Texas USA. Acarologia. vol 18, no 4. p. 594-601.
Springborn EG & Meyers JM. (2005). Home range and survival of breeding painted buntings on Sapelo Island, Georgia. Wildlife Society Bulletin. vol 33, no 4. p. 1432–1439.
Taylor WK. (1974). NEW HYBRID BUNTING (PASSERINA-CYANEA X PASSERINA-CIRIS). Auk. vol 91, no 3. p. 485-487.
Thompson CF & Lanyon SM. (1979). Reverse Mounting in the Painted Bunting Passerina-Ciris. Auk. vol 96, no 2. p. 417-418.
Thompson CW. (1991). Is the Painted Bunting Actually Two Species? Problems Determining Species Limits between Allopatric Populations. Condor. vol 93, no 4. p. 987-1000.
Thompson CW. (1991). THE SEQUENCE OF MOLTS AND PLUMAGES IN PAINTED BUNTINGS AND IMPLICATIONS FOR THEORIES OF DELAYED PLUMAGE MATURATION. Condor. vol 93, no 2. p. 209-235.
Thompson CW. (1992). A KEY FOR AGING AND SEXING PAINTED BUNTINGS. Journal of Field Ornithology. vol 63, no 4. p. 445-454.
Young BE. (1991). ANNUAL MOLTS AND INTERRUPTION OF THE FALL MIGRATION FOR MOLTING IN LAZULI BUNTINGS. Condor. vol 93, no 2. p. 236-250.


Passiflora caerulea is a woody vine capable of growing to 25 metres (82 ft) high where supporting trees are available. The leaves are alternate, palmately five-lobed (sometimes three, seven, or nine lobes), and are up to 10 centimetres (3.9 in) in length while being linear-oblong shaped. The base of each leaf has a flagellate-twining tendril 5–10 centimetres (2.0–3.9 in) long, which twines around supporting vegetation to hold the plant up.
The flower is complex, about 10 centimetres (3.9 in) in diameter, with the five sepals and petals similar in appearance, whitish in colour, surmounted by a corona of blue or violet filaments, then five greenish-yellow stamens and three purple stigmas.  The fruit is an oval orange-yellow berry, 6 centimetres (2.4 in) long by 4 centimetres (1.6 in) in diameter, containing numerous seeds. It is edible to humans when ripe, but tends to have an undesirable flavour.


Passiflora caerulea is widely cultivated as a wall-climber or as groundcover. Though hardy down to −10 °C (14 °F), it requires a sheltered position facing south or west (in the Northern Hemisphere). It can become invasive, the twining shoots constantly appearing unless eradicated. It has gained the Royal Horticultural Society's Award of Garden Merit.


Compared to Passiflora incarnata, this plant contains higher amounts of the MAO-inhibitor harmine.


Though the fruit is edible, it is rather insipid when eaten raw. A tea can be made of the flower or leaves; however, tetraphyllin B and epi-tetraphyllin B,  cyanogenic glycosides which liberate hydrogen cyanide when activated by enzymes, have been found in the leaves. It is possible to boil away most of the cyanide.
The passion flower is the national flower of Paraguay. Its intricate structure has generated Christian symbolism, each part representing a different part of the Passion of Christ. The "Etymology and names" section of Passiflora contains more information about this symbolism.


Several distinct varieties of passion fruit with clearly differing exterior appearances exist. The bright yellow flavicarpa variety, also known as yellow or golden passionfruit, can grow up to the size of a grapefruit, has a smooth, glossy, light and airy rind, and has been used as a rootstock for purple passionfruit in Australia. The dark purple edulis variety is smaller than a lemon, though it is less acidic than yellow passionfruit, and has a richer aroma and flavour.


Specific mention of P. edulis f. flavicarpa juice and peel


Passiflora foetida (common names: stinking passionflower, wild maracuja, bush passion fruit, wild water lemon, stoneflower, love-in-a-mist, or running pop) is a species of passion flower that is native to the southwestern United States (southern Texas and Arizona), Mexico, the Caribbean, Central America, and much of South America. It has been introduced to tropical regions around the world, such as Southeast Asia, South Asia, Hawaii, Africa, and The Maldives. It is a creeping vine like other members of the genus, and yields an edible fruit. The specific epithet, foetida, means "stinking" in Latin and refers to the strong aroma emitted by damaged foliage.
This passion flower tolerates arid ground, but favours moist areas. It is known to be an invasive species in some areas. This plant is also a widely grown perennial climber, and has been used in traditional medicine.


The stems are thin and wiry, and are covered with minute sticky yellow hairs. Older stems become woody. The leaves are three- to five-lobed and viscid-hairy. When crushed, these leaves give off a pungent odor that some people consider unpleasant. The flowers are white to pale cream coloured, about 5–6 cm diameter. The fruit is globose, 2–3 cm diameter, yellowish-orange to red when ripe, and has numerous black seeds embedded in the pulp; the fruit are eaten and the seeds dispersed by birds.
Passiflora foetida is able to trap insects on its bracts, which exude a sticky substance that also contains digestive enzymes. This minimizes predation on young flowers and fruits. Whether or not it gains nourishment from its prey is uncertain, and it is considered a protocarnivorous plant.


Passiflora foetida is a larval host and nectar source for the Gulf fritillary (Agraulis vanillae).
Passiflora foetida has been mentioned as a toxic plant by farmers from northeastern Brazil. An experiment done with goats led to the discovery that high levels of cyanide in P. foetida cause poisoning after the ingestion of fresh leaves, mostly during the dry season.


The fruits are roughly the size of a ping pong ball or kumquat and contain a bluish-white pulp that is mildly sweet and delicately flavored. In the Philippines, the fruit of Passiflora foetida are known colloquially as marya-marya ('Little Mary'), kurombot, and santo papa (due to its resemblance to the Pope's mitre). Young leaves and plant tips are also edible. Dry leaves are used in tea in Vietnamese folk medicine to relieve sleeping problems, as well as treatment for itching and coughs.


Passiflora incarnata, commonly known as maypop, purple passionflower, true passionflower, wild apricot,  and wild passion vine, is a fast-growing perennial vine with climbing or trailing stems. A member of the passionflower genus Passiflora, the maypop has large, intricate flowers with prominent styles and stamens. One of the hardiest species of passionflower, it is both found  as a wildflower in the southern United States and in cultivation for its fruit and striking bluish purple blooms. Passiflora incarnata fruit contain many seeds, each surrounded by an aril holding edible juice, and this juice can be consumed fresh or used to flavor processed products.


The stems can be smooth or pubescent; they are long and trailing, possessing many tendrils. Leaves are alternate and palmately 3-lobed and occasionally 5-lobed, measuring 6–15 centimetres (2.4–5.9 in). They have two characteristic glands at the base of the blade on the petiole. Flowers have five bluish-white petals. They exhibit a white and purple corona, a structure of fine appendages between the petals and stamens. The large flower is typically arranged in a ring above the petals and sepals. They are pollinated by insects such as bumblebees and carpenter bees, and are self-sterile. The flower normally begins to bloom in July.
The fleshy fruit, also referred to as a maypop, is an oval yellowish berry about the size of a hen egg; it is green at first, but then becomes yellow as it matures. As with other passifloras, it is the larval food of a number of lepidoptera species, including the zebra longwing, the  Gulf fritillary, the crimson-patched longwing, the Julia, the Plebeian sphinx, and the variegated fritillary. In many cases its fruit is very popular with wildlife. The egg-shaped green fruits 'may pop' when stepped on. This phenomenon gives the P. incarnata its common name, as well as the fact that its roots can remain dormant for most of the winter underground and then the rest of the plant "pops" out of the ground by May, unharmed by the snow.
The maypop occurs in thickets, disturbed areas, near riverbanks, and near unmowed pastures, roadsides, and railroads. It thrives in areas with plentiful sunlight. It is not found in shady areas beneath a forest canopy.
The Cherokee in the Tennessee area called it ocoee; the Ocoee River and valley are named after this plant, which is the Tennessee state wildflower. For thousands of years the maypop was a staple food and medicinal plant for the Cherokee and to this day it is a revered piece of their heritage. This, and other passionflowers are the exclusive larval host plants for the Gulf fritillary and non-exclusive for the variegated fritillary butterflies.