Timid Sparrow

A small bird perches delicately on a slender tree branch, surrounded by lush, green foliage. Sunlight filters through the leaves, casting dappled shadows on the scene. New World sparrows are a group of mainly New World passerine birds, forming the family Passerellidae. They are seed-eating birds with conical bills, brown or gray in color, and many species have distinctive head patterns. Although they share the name sparrow, New World sparrows are more closely related to Old World buntings than they are to the Old World sparrows (family Passeridae). New World sparrows are also similar in both appearance and habit to finches, with which they sometimes used to be classified.