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Tree Sparrow

2007 Schools Wikipedia Selection. Related subjects: Birds

                  iTree Sparrow
   A first summer
   A first summer

                             Conservation status

   Least Concern (LC)
            Scientific classification

   Kingdom: Animalia
   Phylum:  Chordata
   Class:   Aves
   Order:   Passeriformes
   Family:  Passeridae
   Genus:   Passer
   Species: P. montanus

                                Binomial name

   Passer montanus
   (Linnaeus, 1758)

   The Tree Sparrow, Passer montanus, is spread over most of Europe and
   Siberia, and allied forms occur in other parts of Asia. It has been
   introduced to Australia. In the United States (where it is known as the
   Eurasian Tree Sparrow to differentiate it from the native, unrelated
   American Tree Sparrow), German immigrants introduced it to the area
   around St. Louis in the 1870s. From there, it has slowly expanded its
   range into Illinois and Missouri. Changes in farming methods have meant
   that species is declining in some parts of western Europe.

   This 12.5–14 cm long bird is often confused with the larger House
   Sparrow, but its rich brown, almost coppery head, a black patch on its
   white cheeks, and a double white wing bar, together its slighter and
   more graceful build, are distinctive. The sexes are practically alike,
   an important specific character.

   The crown and nape are rich chestnut, and on the white cheeks and
   ear-coverts there is a triangular black patch; the chin and throat are
   black. Two distinct though narrow white bars cross the brown wings. In
   summer the bill is lead-blue, in winter almost black. The legs are pale
   brown and the irides hazel.

   Young, even in the nest, closely resemble their parents. They are said
   to be duller, and in the depicted young bird the face pattern is
   blurred. The breast and belly are browner.

   The Tree Sparrow is rural in Europe, but replaces its relative as a
   town bird in parts of Asia. It used to be considered as the national
   bird of the Philippines, and locally called maya. In Australia, it is
   found in some rural and semi-rural districts, but not cities. The small
   American population is sometimes referred to as "German Sparrows", to
   distinguish it from the native species as well as the vast numbers of
   "English" House Sparrows.

   Its voice is more shrill; the call is a shorter chip, than the House
   Sparrow's and the song, consisting of modulated chirps, is musical.

   Though occasionally nesting in isolated trees, it is a gregarious bird
   at all seasons, and a grove of old trees with a plentiful supply of
   hollows, or a disused quarry, are favourite sites for the colony ; what
   it likes is a hole in which to put its untidy nest, composed of hay,
   grass, wool or other material and lined with feathers.

   Some of the nests are not actually in holes in rock, but are built
   among roots of overhanging furze or other bushes. The haunts of man are
   not always shunned, for old thatch in a barn or cottage will shelter a
   colony. A domed nest, like that of the House Sparrow, is sometimes
   built in the old nest of a Magpie or other bird.

   The four to six eggs, usually five, are smaller and, as a rule, browner
   than those of the House Sparrow. They vary considerably, and frequently
   the markings are massed at one end. In most clutches one egg is lighter
   and differs in markings from the others.

Gallery

   Adult

                          Adult

                                        Adult

                                             Nest and eggs (A)

   Roof tile clearance (B)

                          Grass area (C)

   Images A-C show the nest of a Tree Sparrow made under a small space in
   the roof tiles of a wooden house in Japan. The nest is bowl-shaped, 5–6
   cm in diameter, and about 4 cm deep. The egg is grey marked with light
   brownish, 1.5 cm long and 1 cm across. The material of the nest is
   mainly grass. A roof tile is about 30 cm square.
   Retrieved from " http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tree_Sparrow"
   This reference article is mainly selected from the English Wikipedia
   with only minor checks and changes (see www.wikipedia.org for details
   of authors and sources) and is available under the GNU Free
   Documentation License. See also our Disclaimer.
