House Sparrow vs Northern Gannet
Passer domesticus compared with Morus bassanus
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Attribute | House Sparrow | Northern Gannet |
|---|---|---|
| Scientific Name | Passer domesticus | Morus bassanus |
| Order | Passeriformes | Suliformes |
| Family | Passeridae | Sulidae |
| Conservation Status | Least Concern | Least Concern |
| Length | 16.0 cm (6.3 in) | 93.0 cm (36.6 in) |
| Wingspan | 25.0 cm (9.8 in) | 180.0 cm (70.9 in) |
| Weight | 30.0 g (1.06 oz) | 3000.0 g (105.82 oz) |
| Diet | Primarily seeds and grains, supplemented with insects during breeding season. Readily exploits human food scraps … | Shoaling fish, especially mackerel, herring, and capelin. Plunge-dives from heights of 30 meters at speeds … |
| Clutch Size | 1-8 | 1 |
| Population Trend | — | — |
Size Comparison
Habitat Comparison
House Sparrow
Closely associated with human habitation. Found in cities, towns, farms, and any built environment. Rarely found far from people.
Northern Gannet
Open ocean and coastal waters. Breeds in dense colonies on steep rocky islands and sea stacks.
Song & Call Comparison
House Sparrow
Monotonous series of chirping 'cheep' and 'chirrup' notes. Male gives 'chilp' song repeatedly. Flocks produce constant chirping chatter. No melodic song; purely functional calls.
Northern Gannet
Loud, harsh 'urrah-urrah' grunting and croaking at breeding colonies on sea stacks. Also gives a softer 'karrr' in flight. Large colonies are extremely noisy during the breeding season.
Geographic Range & Migration
House Sparrow
Native to Europe, Asia, and North Africa. Introduced to every continent except Antarctica, making it the most widely distributed wild bird.
Northern Gannet
North Atlantic, breeding from Newfoundland and Gulf of St. Lawrence to Norway, Iceland, and Britain. Winters at sea south to the tropics.
Conservation Status
House Sparrow
Northern Gannet
How to Tell Them Apart
House Sparrow
Males have grey crowns, chestnut napes, black bibs, and streaked brown backs. Females and juveniles are plain buffy-brown with a pale eyebrow stripe.
Short, stout, conical bill — black in breeding males, yellowish in non-breeding
Northern Gannet
Brilliant white body with black wingtips and a golden-yellow wash on the head and nape. Blue-grey bill with dark lines and pale blue eye-ring.
Long, straight, pointed, pale blue-grey bill with serrated edges
About These Birds
House Sparrow
The house sparrow is perhaps the most successful bird in the world at living alongside humans. Introduced to New York in 1851, it spread across North America within decades. Despite its global abundance, house sparrow populations have declined significantly in parts of western Europe.
Northern Gannet
The northern gannet is a spectacular plunge-diver, folding its two-meter wingspan into an arrow shape to hit the water at up to 100 km/h. Air sacs under the skin and a reinforced skull protect it from the impact. Bass Rock in Scotland hosts over 150,000 gannets, the largest single colony of any seabird in the world.