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Starling vs Sparrow - What's the difference?

starling | sparrow |

As nouns the difference between starling and sparrow

is that starling is a family, Sturnidae, of passerine birds while sparrow is the house sparrow, Passer domesticus; a small bird with a short bill, and brown, white and gray feathers.

As proper nouns the difference between starling and sparrow

is that starling is {{surname|A=An|English|from=nicknames}} from a nickname for a gregarious person while Sparrow is {{surname}.

starling

English

Noun

(en noun)
  • A family, Sturnidae, of passerine birds.
  • # The common starling, Sturnus vulgaris , which has dark, iridescent plumage.
  • A structure of pilings that protects the piers of a bridge.
  • A California fish, the .
  • Derived terms

    * (l)

    sparrow

    Noun

    (en noun)
  • The house sparrow, Passer domesticus ; a small bird with a short bill, and brown, white and gray feathers.
  • A member of the family Passeridae, comprising small Old World songbirds.
  • A member of the family Emberizidae, comprising small New World songbirds.
  • Generically, any small, nondescript bird.
  • (UK, chiefly, London) A quick-witted, lively person. Often used in the phrase cockney sparrow .
  • * 2005 , Drama Faces: Martine McCutcheon , BBC
  • Professional cockney sparrow Martine has acted since childhood.
  • * 1878 , Ally Sloper's guide to the Paris exhibition , Charles Henry Ross, p. 54
  • I take it there 's scarcely a happier fellow alive than your honest town-bred smoke-dried cockney sparrow .

    Derived terms

    * sparrowhawk * house sparrow * (tree sparrow)

    Synonyms

    (checksyns) * spadger, sparra, spuggy