House Sparrow vs small tortoiseshell

Passer domesticus compared with Aglais urticae

Key Differences

• House Sparrow is Least Concern while small tortoiseshell is Near Threatened.

Taxonomic Classification

Rank	House Sparrow	small tortoiseshell
Kingdom same	Animalia (Animals)	Animalia (Animals)
Phylum	Chordata (Chordates)	Arthropoda (Arthropods)
Class	Aves (Birds)	Insecta (Insects)
Order	Passeriformes (Songbirds)	Lepidoptera (Butterflies & Moths)
Family	Passeridae	Nymphalidae (Brush-footed Butterflies)
Genus	Passer	Aglais
Species	Passer domesticus	Aglais urticae

Evolutionary Relationship

House Sparrow and small tortoiseshell share a common ancestor at the Kingdom level: Animalia. (Animals)

Conservation Status

House Sparrow

LC — Least Concern

small tortoiseshell

NT — Near Threatened

Physical Characteristics

Attribute	House Sparrow	small tortoiseshell
Diet	—	—
Average Lifespan	—	—
Average Length	—	—
Average Weight	—	—

Habitat & Geographic Range

House Sparrow

Habitat

Found across multiple habitat types including tropical and subtropical moist broadleaf forests, tropical and subtropical dry broadleaf forests, and tropical and subtropical grasslands and savannas, among 6 distinct biome types. Populations are also found in montane and highland environments at higher elevations.

Range

Widely distributed across Africa (25 countries), Asia (4 countries), Europe (7 countries), North America (15 countries), Oceania and the Pacific (Australia, New Zealand, Vanuatu), and South America (8 countries).

small tortoiseshell

Habitat

Typically found in virtually all terrestrial and freshwater habitats.

Range

Found across Europe (41 countries). Listed as Near Threatened, this species requires ongoing monitoring to prevent population decline.

House Sparrow

House Sparrow (Passer domesticus) is classified as Least Concern (LC) on the IUCN Red List. Widespread and abundant across its range, with stable populations and no immediate conservation concerns.

small tortoiseshell

small tortoiseshell (Aglais urticae) is classified as Near Threatened (NT) on the IUCN Red List. Close to qualifying as threatened, with populations that may become vulnerable without conservation action.

Shared Countries

Both species can be found in 7 countries:

🇧🇪 Belgium 🇩🇰 Denmark 🇱🇺 Luxembourg 🇳🇴 Norway 🇷🇺 Russia 🇪🇸 Spain 🇸🇪 Sweden