Snowfinches and Old World sparrows | Passeridae

Mussen | Gorriones

The family does not belong here naturally: the two species living wild in the region were brought over from Europe and released in the nineteenth century, after which one spread across the entire continent while the other stayed within a small area around the place where it was let loose. They are stocky birds with a heavy, conical bill and short legs, hopping over the ground and almost always keeping within a few metres of cover or buildings. They live in groups, bathe both in water and in dry dust, and roost all year in numbers together in ivy, dense hedges or under roof tiles. The nest is an untidy, domed mass of grass and feathers stuffed into a cavity, under the eaves or among ironwork, and is reused two to four times in a single season. Song in the proper sense is absent: for months the male repeats the same chirp from a fixed spot beside his nest hole. The size of the black bib on the throat differs from male to male and goes with his place in the pecking order within the group.