What does a tree sparrow look like?

When it comes to wild birds, sparrows are probably the most well-known birds. There is a saying among the people: "The small ones are sparrows, the big ones are pheasants, and the ones in the water are ducks." This is the minimum standard for identifying birds among the people. Yes, all small birds are called sparrows.

Sparrow is actually a general name for a type of bird in taxonomy. Birds of the order Passeriformes, family Passeridae, and genus Sparrow can all be called sparrows. The most common "sparrow" in most cities in my country is officially called "tree sparrow" in Chinese.

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The name of tree sparrow comes from the English name "Tree Sparrow". There is also a sparrow called house sparrow, but the house sparrow is mainly distributed in the west of my country and is relatively rare in the eastern region.

Although everyone knows about sparrows, do you really know them? In 30 seconds, can you picture what they look like in your mind? Can you describe their characteristics in words?

The adult tree sparrow has a darker brown back and head, a lighter belly, and a grayish-white cheek with a distinct black spot, which is its most important identification mark. There is a black area under the beak and a complete grayish-white collar on the back of the neck.

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The staple food of tree sparrows is seeds of various plants. Of course, this highly adaptable little bird has a wide range of diets in the city: fruits, leftovers, meat, garbage, etc. As long as it is edible, they will accept it. This is also the main reason why they can enjoy the benefits brought by humans.

Sparrows need a lot of high-protein food to raise their chicks. Adult birds can be vegetarian, but young birds must eat meat, so sparrows will prey on a large number of insects during the breeding season. Don't think that sparrows have a hard time catching insects because they look "ordinary". Sparrows are very fierce when catching insects! They can find various caterpillars among the branches and leaves of trees, fly up and intercept moths or butterflies in the air, crawl into the grass to catch crickets and grasshoppers, and even crawl in through the gaps on my terrace to steal my feed cockroaches and mealworms.

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Sparrows usually gather in groups, with a dozen to dozens of individuals in a group, and even thousands of sparrows in a large group. Because they have more eyes, the chance of finding natural enemies is higher, and the chance of being preyed on is lower relative to each individual.

Sparrows living in cities are often not afraid of people. Some bold individuals dare to approach people very closely. When food is scarce, there will be a clear hierarchy in this group. Sparrows with high status can enjoy the best food first, while sparrows with low status can only pick up some leftovers after the high-ranking sparrows have finished eating. If there is an extremely scarce season for food, sparrows with low status are likely to starve to death. This is also the rule of survival of the fittest in species evolution.

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Sparrows have the habit of "sand bathing", which is a behavior of using loose soil to cover their feathers and then shaking it off. The soil will carry away some dirt and parasites such as feather lice stuck on the feathers, thereby achieving the effect of cleaning the body. After the sparrow takes a sand bath, a small conical pit will form on the ground. Once, I found that many small round pits appeared out of thin air in the flower pots placed outdoors. I was puzzled. Later, by chance, I found that it was the remains left by the little sparrow who mistook my flower pots for "bathtubs".

Although the sparrow is small, it is a very successful bird in evolution. If you see a sparrow on the roadside, you should take a closer look at this familiar yet strange "cute" living around us.

As for the sparrow-like creatures mentioned in yesterday’s article, some of them can be seen in our daily lives, and some of them are probably species living abroad. It is impossible to be very sure just by observing the parts and certain angles, so we can only roughly identify them:

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North American Goldfinch (left); Brown-capped Sparrow (right)

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Taliyah

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Maybe a house sparrow

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Probably some kind of flycatcher

Author | Li Weiyang, a popular science writer, has published works on Guokr.com, State Forestry Administration, China National Geographic, "Bowu" magazine, Juvenile Science Magazine, etc.

Review | Huang Chengming, Researcher, Institute of Zoology, Chinese Academy of Sciences

This article is produced by the "Science Rumor Refutation Platform" (ID: Science_Facts). Please indicate the source when reprinting.

The pictures in this article are from the copyright gallery and are not authorized for reproduction.