Passerine colonies: Eurasian tree sparrow and house sparrow like to occupy breeding burrows set up for other burrowing bird species. We can say that passerines really like each other’s company, they like to spend time in colonies, so we can help their survival with passerine colonies, i.e. artificial burrows divided into several parts.

Eurasian tree sparrow (Passer montanus) 

Our resident bird, we can meet them all year round. It has a brown head, a white cheek patch and black ear and throat spots, and its lower body, belly, and underbelly are dirty white. The easiest way to distinguish the house sparrow is that the Eurasian tree sparrow has a cheek patch (black), while the house sparrow does not (gray cheek). In spring and summer they feed on caterpillars and aphids, while in autumn and winter they feed on weed seeds. Due to monoculture agriculture and the decrease in the number of nesting sites, its number has decreased significantly, and it has even disappeared from some parts of Europe, so it needs to be protected. It is a protected species in Hungary.

House Sparrow (Passer domesticus) 

It is a permanent bird, but unfortunately its number is constantly decreasing both in Hungary and in Europe. The plumage of males and eggs is different, the head and back of the males are brownish, their backs are striped with black, and their throat patch is black, which extends down to the beak. They do not have a cheek spot, the muzzle is pale gray in color. Egg-laying birds are gray from below, their backs are faintly streaked with black. During the chick-rearing period, its food consists of seeds and insects, and from autumn to the following spring, it eats weed seeds and dead seeds. We can do a lot for house sparrows by feeding birds in the winter and placing artificial burrows. It is a protected species in Hungary.