House Sparrow ( Passer domesticus ) nesting patterns in urban, suburban, and rural areas in Zambia

We investigated nesting sites, nest building materials, nest abundance, and nest height of invasive House Sparrows (Passer domesticus) across three levels of urbanization (urban, suburban, and rural) in Lusaka District, Zambia. We surveyed 27 line transects, 9 in each urbanization level, and recorded a total of 434 nests: 38 in urban, 209 in suburban, and 187 in rural areas. These field data were collected at different times of the year: urban sites were surveyed in May–June, suburban in July–August, and rural in September–November. Urban areas had only two types of nest sites (roofs and vents), whereas suburban and rural areas had a greater variety, each with five site types; however, most nests in these areas also occurred in roofs and vents. House Sparrows used 16 types of nest-building materials, eight from natural sources and eight from human-made sources, with the lowest diversity of materials found in urban areas and composed mostly of items of anthropogenic origin. Our interpretation of the lower nest abundance and reduced material diversity in urban areas is that these two characteristics are linked to modern building designs, limited structural nesting opportunities, and improved waste management practices that restrict resource availability. Last, nest heights ranged from 2 to 3.5 m with no statistically significant differences among urbanization levels. Rural sites had the lowest and urban sites the highest nest heights, possibly for nest safety or ease of food access.