House Sparrow - description, habitat, interesting facts

House sparrows, as can be understood from the name, are ranked as a sparrow family. They are quite common in settlements, prefer to be close to people. Today, this bird is considered the most popular among those species that live next to humans. Sparrows are known for their appearance, even a child, and you will not confuse tweets with others. Today we will study everything that affects these feathered representatives of the species.

Description

1. Feathered individuals cannot boast of impressive size. They grow in length to 17 cm, but most often there are representatives that grow in body to 14 cm. As for weight, it ranges from 25 to 40 grams.
2. The head is round, large in size, it appears disproportionately large in relation to the rest of the body.The beak is wide and strong, canonical, grows up to 1.5 cm. Maximum.
3. These individuals seem to be quite strong and strong, considering that they have a small mass and size in particular. The tail grows to 5 cm, and the limbs are 3 cm in height.
4. Differences in sex occur in general. Females are slightly smaller than males. Also the color of feathers varies depending on the gender. Birds in the upper part are always painted with a brownish tint.
5. The lower part of the body is gray, light. On the wings there is a faded yellowish edging and longitudinal stripes. In the male members of the family, the head in the area of ​​the crown is pigmented with a dark gray color, and under the eyes there are light gray blotches. The neck and rib cage have a black speck.
6. In individuals of female sex, in addition to smaller dimensions, a different color of the crown is also highlighted. She is light brown. The same shade of the neck. When the mating season begins, the birds in their plumage become dark. Therefore, some of the features listed above may differ.

Habitat

1. Since ancient times, representatives of this breed group lived exclusively in the northern part of Europe. But at the onset of the 20th century, the population increased, and the habitat expanded decently. Birds are found in different parts of the planet.
2. There are especially many of them in Eurasia, except for the northeastern and eastern parts of the continent. Many individuals in South America, North America, Australia to the east, South Africa.
3. In their characteristics, sparrows prefer to settle in one place. They choose zones with moderate climatic conditions, with a sufficient amount of food.
4. Birds are tied to humans and housing, otherwise this species is referred to as synanthropic individuals. For many years, family members have adapted to live with people.

Breeding

1. These individuals build nests in pairs, but can also nest colonially. Construction is implemented in close proximity to human housing. Nests are located in cities and towns.
2. If the birds live in the south, then their place of deployment may be distant from people. In such regions, birds build nests in ravines and terrain, located near planted fields.They can eat cereal at any time.
3. Sparrows prefer nesting in the holes of stone buildings, as well as in hollows. Some individuals occupy abandoned nests left by other birds. Birds get together once and remain inseparable for the rest of their lives.
4. It is worth noting that birds have a rather short lifetime. Some of them with great difficulty reach 3 years, although in nature there were 10-year-old representatives of the passerine family.
5. The dwelling is erected not only by a female; the future father of the offspring helps her. Blades of grass, feathers, straw, etc., act as building materials. The mating season begins in early spring, so that by the middle of the season the female has time to make the first laying.
6. The female gives 4-10 eggs. Incubation continues for 15 days. When the chicks go on feeding, both the female and the male are engaged. 10 days after the birth, the babies are already making their first attempts at departure from the nest. Sparrows very much, because they are prolific. The female for 1 season is able to bring 3 offspring.

Nutrition

1. In most cases, the basis of the diet of individuals includes mainly vegetable food. As for food of animal origin, the birds feed on it only in the spring and during the feeding of offspring.
2. Such sparrows love to feast on the seeds of cereals. They also eat the waste products that remain after people. In addition, birds love a variety of berries in vineyards and gardens. If individuals do not find food, they fly over to the meadows. In such places they feed on the seeds of various plants.

The value of sparrows for people

1. It should be noted that individuals can be both beneficial to humans and equally harmful. The problem is that the birds are carriers of various serious infections and diseases. In addition, there are pests on their wings that can destroy the entire agricultural crop.
2. House sparrows cause some harm to almost all poultry. Individuals are carriers of serious diseases in the form of smallpox and diphtheria. Do not be upset ahead of time. In fact, the benefits of such sparrows are much greater.
3. An example is the case that occurred in China in 1958.The fact is that the Chinese government ordered the destruction of the sparrows in order to preserve their crops. During the operation, more than 2 billion birds were destroyed.
4. As a result, the number of insects the following year has increased so much that crop losses have increased several times than with a normal population of sparrows. As a result, the government stopped destroying birds.

What is the difference between house and field sparrows?

1. Not everyone is able to find obvious differences between the two types of such sparrows. For example, field individuals are somewhat similar to male house birds. However, in the first case, the birds have less weight and more graceful outlines of the body. An adult sparrow can reach a length of up to 14 cm.
2. It is also a significant distinction of species that the field sparrows have a different color of the occiput and the top of the head. In addition, this species has small black spots under the beak and in the area of ​​the ears. Field sparrows have a collar on the neck of white feathers. On the wings there are 2 light streaks.
3. Unfortunately, regardless of the type of bird, there is a high mortality rate. Even in spite of the fact that, under good conditions, birds can live to 10 years.However, if you rely on statistics, most sparrows are unable to survive even the first winter.

Considered individuals, like most birds, live in difficult climatic conditions. Therefore, birds are subject to various hazards every day. Often, sparrows die because of an insufficient amount of food in the cold season. Therefore, it is often possible to see that people specifically make feeders in order to at least help the birds.

Video: House Sparrow (Passer domesticus)