Editing Old World sparrow (section)

== Relationships with humans ==
[[File:Sparrows being fed in front of Notre-Dame Cathedrale.jpg|thumb|House sparrows being fed [[brioche]] in front of [[Notre-Dame Cathedral]] in [[Paris]].]]

Old World sparrows may be the most familiar of all wild birds worldwide.<ref name=Firefly>{{cite book | last1 = Clement | first1 = Peter | last2 = Colston | first2 = P. R. | year = 2003 | chapter = Sparrows and Snowfinches | editor = Perrins, Christopher | editor-link = Chris Perrins | title = The Firefly Encyclopedia of Birds | publisher = Firefly Books | pages = [https://archive.org/details/fireflyencyclope0000unse/page/590 590–591] | isbn = 978-1-55297-777-4 | chapter-url = https://archive.org/details/fireflyencyclope0000unse/page/590 }}</ref> Many species commonly live in agricultural areas, and for several, human settlements are a primary habitat. The Eurasian tree and house sparrows are particularly specialised in living around humans and inhabit cities in large numbers. 17 of the 26 species recognised by the ''Handbook of the Birds of the World'' are known to nest on and feed around buildings.<ref name=HBW/>

Grain-eating species, in particular the house and Sudan golden sparrows, can be significant agricultural [[pest (organism)|pest]]s. They can be beneficial to humans as well, especially by eating insect pests. Attempts at large-scale control have failed to affect populations significantly, or have been accompanied by major increases in insect attacks probably resulting from a reduction of numbers, as in the [[Four Pests Campaign|Great Sparrow Campaign]] in 1950s China.<ref name=HBW/>

Because of their familiarity, the house sparrow and other species of the family are frequently used to represent the common and vulgar, or the lewd.<ref name="NN 49, 215"/> Birds usually described later as Old World sparrows are referred to in many works of ancient literature and religious texts in Europe and western Asia. These references may not always refer specifically to Old World sparrows, or even to small, seed-eating birds, but later writers who were inspired by these texts often had the house sparrow and other members of the family in mind. In particular, Old World sparrows were associated by the ancient Greeks with [[Aphrodite]], the goddess of love, due to their perceived lustfulness, an association echoed by later writers such as [[Chaucer]] and [[Shakespeare]].<ref name=HBW/><ref name="NN 49, 215"/><ref>{{cite encyclopedia|last=Shipley|first=A. E.|author-link=Arthur Shipley|title=Sparrow|encyclopedia=[[Encyclopaedia Biblica]]|volume=4|url=https://archive.org/stream/encyclopaediabib04cheyuoft#page/n413/mode/2up/|editor=Cheyne, Thomas Kelley |editor2=Black, J. Sutherland|year=1899|publisher=Toronto : Morang}}</ref>

Jesus's use of "sparrows" as an example of divine providence in the [[Gospel of Matthew]]<ref>{{bibleverse|Matthew|10:29-31|KJV}}</ref> also inspired later references, such as that in the final scene of Shakespeare's ''[[Hamlet]]''<ref name="NN 49, 215"/> and the [[Gospel music|Gospel]] [[hymn]] "[[His Eye Is on the Sparrow]]".<ref>{{harvnb|Todd|2012|pp=56–58}}</ref>

<div><!-- division to keep embedded hieroglyphs within text -->Sparrows are represented in ancient Egyptian art very rarely, but an [[Egyptian hieroglyph]] <hiero>G37</hiero> is based on the house sparrow. The symbol had no phonetic value and was used as a determinative in words to indicate ''small'', ''narrow'', or ''bad''.<ref>{{harvnb|Houlihan|Goodman|1986|pp=136–137}}</ref></div>

Old World sparrows have been kept as pets at many times in history, even though most are not particularly colourful and their songs are unremarkable.{{Citation needed|date=July 2021}} They are also difficult to keep, as pet sparrows must be raised by hand and a considerable amount of insects are required to feed them. Nevertheless, many people succeed at hand-raising orphaned or abandoned baby sparrows.<ref>{{cite web | url=http://www.starlingtalk.com | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20011117013303/http://www.starlingtalk.com/ | url-status=usurped | archive-date=November 17, 2001 | title=Starling Talk: The Care and Feeding of Injured and Orphaned Starlings}}</ref>

The earliest mentions of pet sparrows are from the Romans. Not all the ''passeri'' mentioned, often as pets, in Roman literature were necessarily sparrows, but some accounts of them clearly describe their appearance and habits<!-- need to find source for last part -->.<ref name="OS&M-pets">{{harvnb|Summers-Smith|2005|pp= 29–35}}</ref> The pet ''passer'' of [[Lesbia]] in [[Catullus]]'s poems may not have been a sparrow, but a [[thrush (bird)|thrush]] or [[European goldfinch]]. [[John Skelton (poet)|John Skelton]]'s ''The Boke of Phyllyp Sparowe'' is a lament for a pet house sparrow belonging to a Jane Scrope, narrated by Scrope.<ref name=HBW/><ref name="NN 49, 215">{{harvnb|Summers-Smith|1963|pp=49, 215}}</ref><ref name="OS&M-pets"/><ref>{{cite book|chapter-url=https://www.academia.edu/1052805|title=A Dictionary of Literary Symbols|chapter=Sparrow|year=2007|author=Ferber, Michael|publisher=Cambridge University Press|access-date=2017-11-01|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130724032553/http://www.academia.edu/1052805/A_DICTIONARY_OF_LITERARY_SYMBOLS_By_Michael_Ferber|archive-date=2013-07-24|url-status=dead}}</ref>