What Foods Do Sparrows Like?

General Diet

• Most sparrows, including the American Tree Sparrow, Sage Sparrow and White-Crowned Sparrow, have a similar diet. The House Sparrow is a slight exception. Most sparrows eats seeds, berries, buds, grass, insects and sometimes fruit. Interestingly, a sparrow's diet is actually quite similar to that of a human's in terms of seeds: sparrows like barley, corn, rice and wheat. Usually sparrows find food on the ground in areas that are partially covered by leaves and other matter. Sparrows then scratch at the ground with their feet to find their food.

House Sparrow

• The House Sparrow's diet is slightly different than that of other sparrows and very diverse diet, including seeds, nuts, berries, buds insects and other scraps. What sets the House Sparrow apart is that it will essentially eat anything. While other species of sparrows have preferences, which are generally influenced by their environment, the House Sparrow will eat anything from sunflower hearts and peanuts to suet and popcorn. In a study on dissected House Sparrows, one was found to have 838 different kinds of food in its stomach.

Environment and Time of Year

• The diet of most sparrows depends on the time of year and the environment. Certain foods are not available during the winter months, for example. Seeds and insects are a component of a sparrow's diet year-round. In the winter, though, sparrows eat mostly seeds and berries. In the summer, they eat mostly insects. During the spring, many farmers and gardeners will notice that certain flowers and crops are damaged. It is sometimes the case that House Sparrows will eat yellow flowers and nibble at certain fruits.

Feeding their Young

• Sparrows generally reproduce in the spring because their young cannot handle the cold of the winter. This means that sparrows are generally feeding their young during the summer. Because a sparrow's summer diet mostly consists of insects, this is what their young are fed. Insects are rich in protein, which helps with the development and growth of a baby sparrow. The sparrows feed their young grasshoppers, beetles, flies and spiders. Once the weather starts to shift in autumn, sparrows go back to eating nuts and seeds, and their young start to eat them as well.