Animal world: anima. The absolute value of life. House Sparrow - description, photo and video

The house sparrow belongs to the genus real sparrows and forms a species that lives next to a person. This bird is extremely common throughout the world. The original homeland of the bird is most of Europe and Western Asia. Over time, she settled in the northern and eastern regions of Africa, Central and Central Asia, Siberia. By the beginning of the last century, the bird came to South Africa, the American continent, Australia and New Zealand.

It is not clear how this feathered baby ended up so far from his native places. Somewhere it was brought deliberately, but somewhere by accident. But everywhere the representatives of the species adapted perfectly. Nowadays, they can even be found in Yakutia. This bird is sedentary. Only from the coldest northern places migrates south in winter. also in winter months leaves Central Asia, moving to India and the Middle East.

The bird is small. The body length varies from 14 to 18 cm with a weight of 25-39 g. The head is large and rounded. The beak is thick and has a conical shape with a length of 1.1-1.5 cm. In general, the physique is strong. The tail is 5-6.5 cm long. The limbs are 1.7-2.5 cm long. Females are somewhat smaller than males. In Europe average weight of these birds, regardless of gender, is 30 g. The southern subspecies weigh an average of 26 g.

The plumage color of males and females is different. The general background of the upper body is brown. The lower part of the body is light grey. On the wings there is a white-yellow transverse stripe. In males, the top of the head is dark gray. The part of the head below the eyes is light grey. There is a black spot on the throat and chest. In females, the head and neck are light brown. IN mating season their plumage darkens. Young birds look like adult females.

Reproduction and lifespan

Sparrows nest near human habitation. They can form separate pairs, and it happens that they unite in colonies. Nests are arranged in hollows of trees, in crevices of structures and buildings, in burrows on the slopes of ravines, in bushes and on tree branches. Both the male and the female build the nest. They make it from dry grass, straw, small twigs. There is a small recess inside.

The female usually lays eggs in April. It contains from 4 to 10 eggs. They are white in color with brown spots. Incubation period lasts about 2 weeks. The hatched chicks are fed with insects by the female and the male. Young birds become winged 14-16 days after birth. As for life expectancy, the house sparrow can live up to 10-11 years. But in most cases, birds live no more than 4 years if they survive the first winter. About 70% of these little birds do not live up to a year. The maximum life expectancy is 23 years. A sparrow from Denmark lived to this age. Another long-liver lived 19 years and 9 months.

Behavior and nutrition

This species constantly lives next to a person. It has 12 subspecies, which differ somewhat in plumage color and size. For example, house sparrows living in Spain and Italy have a chestnut-colored top of their heads. There are other minor differences as well. The bird perfectly tolerates a variety of climatic conditions, but prefers dry rather than wet tropical climate. It can live without water, getting moisture from berries.

These pichuga are extremely social. When feeding, they always unite in large flocks. Outside the breeding season, they spend the night in trees or shrubs. The diet consists mostly of plant foods. Insects make up a small percentage. They are mainly fed to chicks. The house sparrow loves grain seeds, but always eats what is available. This includes waste from garbage cans, and berries, and kidneys, and seeds of various herbs.

These birds, like many other birds, need sand to properly digest their food. Coarse grains and small pebbles can serve as a substitute for sand. When flying, the pichuga is capable of reaching a speed of 45 km / h. He does not walk on the ground, but jumps. Can swim and dive. Most of these birds do not move more than a few kilometers from their main habitat during their entire life. Only 2 subspecies migrate. Before the flight, they increase their weight. World Sparrow Day is celebrated on March 20 all over the world. It was introduced in 2010.

The sparrow belongs to the weaver family, and once the sparrow lived in Africa, then it reached the countries of the Mediterranean, met people, and its march around the world began, and at the same time it turned into a sparrow as we used to see it. He no longer separated himself from people. Even when a man began to populate Siberia - a sparrow followed him, a man mastered the tundra - and together with people in settlements sparrow appeared. In 1850, several pairs of sparrows were brought to America, and soon they were firmly established there.

Sparrows live independently, but many settle in the immediate vicinity of a person. Sometimes, unexpectedly, the sparrow remembers that he is from the family of weavers, famous nest builders, and tries to build something original, something like a ball with a pipe-shaped entrance. But this rarely happens. Usually, sparrows make primitive nests and where necessary: ​​under the roof of a house or under a cornice, behind a window casing or in an old drainpipe, under rafters or in a hollow of a tree growing in a garden. Sometimes he tries to brazenly seize a birdhouse or a swallow's nest (and this sparrow sometimes succeeds).

An adult sparrow has a varied diet: in addition to insects, it feeds on seeds and berries, grains and flower buds, food waste, and so on.

People know a lot about sparrows: what they eat, where they live, how they behave in various conditions. They do not know only one thing - a sparrow is useful or harmful. When sparrows appeared in America, they were very happy about them - newspapers wrote about sparrows, poems were written in their honor, and even a "society of sparrow friends" was created. But then the impudent sparrow, not appreciating the benevolent attitude, did such a mischief, having made devastation in the fields and in the gardens, that they began to limit their number.

The sparrow does a lot of harm in our country, destroying crops of cereals, sunflowers, pecking at the buds of flowers of fruit and berry trees, eating berries, stealing grain (at one time, apparently, he was generally famous for this, it’s not for nothing that his name is a sparrow - “thief bey” ). He is also mischievous in the gardens. This is how the sparrow behaves all over the world.

But in the same United States, where the number of sparrows is limited, a monument to this bird was erected in the city of Boston for saving gardens, vegetable gardens and fields from pests (in particular, from caterpillars).

In China in the 60s, realizing how much wheat and rice the sparrows destroy, they declared war on these birds. In some places, sparrows were completely exterminated. After some time, the Chinese had to buy this bird in Mongolia and release it in those places where the sparrows were exterminated. And all because sparrows eat not only cultivated plants or their seeds. According to tentative estimates, a flock of sparrows (1000 birds) destroys 8 kilograms of weed seeds in one month. This is a significant contribution to the protection of cultivated plants. But that's not all, because sparrows also destroy insects. And given that sparrows are among the most common birds, the number of insects they destroy is astronomical. Sparrows, in turn, feed on useful predator birds and owls.

Therefore, scientists will not determine their attitude to the sparrow in any way: what does it bring to a person more - harm or benefit. Obviously, it all depends on the place where the birds live, on their number and on some other factors.

The male house sparrow is quite diversely colored, and in the spring he is a real dandy. Its forehead, crown and nape are gray with brownish edging of feathers. Wide brown stripes run along the sides of the head. The bridle and narrow stripes above the eyes are black. The back is rusty-brown with wide black longitudinal streaks. The loin and rump are brownish-gray. The tail feathers are dark brown with narrow light borders. The wings are dark brown with a reddish border of feathers. Middle wing coverts with white tips that form white transverse stripes on the wings. The chin, throat, craw and upper chest are black, with fresh feathers with narrow light borders, which are shed by spring. The underside of the body is white or light gray, darkening on the sides. The legs are brown, the beak is brownish-black in winter and bluish-black in spring. The female is painted much more modestly. The top of the head and lower back are brown, with an buffy stripe on the sides of the head. Cheeks, ear coverts and sides of neck brownish-gray. The back is brownish-buff with dark feathers. The belly is light, brownish-gray. Young birds are similar to the female, only they have more brown tone in their color.

Not everyone distinguishes between house and field sparrows by appearance, especially since sometimes they stay together in common flocks. Meanwhile, the differences between these species are quite significant. Firstly, the tree sparrow does not have such pronounced sexual dimorphism as its house sparrow. Males and females are colored exactly the same. Secondly, it is significantly smaller than the house sparrow: its mass ranges from 20 to 30 g, while the mass of the house sparrow is from 28 to 38 g. The color of adult field sparrows is quite elegant. Top of the head, cap, brown. The bridle, the strip under the eye, the throat and ear coverts are black, on the white cheeks there is a dot - a "dimple". sides of the neck also white color. The plumage of the back, wings and tail is brown, often with dark stems and light buffy feather edging. The abdomen is whitish, darkening towards the sides. The beak is black in summer, brownish-black in winter with a yellowish base. Legs are pale brown. The plumage of young birds is much duller than that of adults. The top of the head and back are grayish-brown with dark streaks. The belly is off-white, the throat, lore and ear coverts are grey.

The sparrow can rightly be attributed to the most common birds due to its extraordinary adaptability to living in close proximity to human habitation. Their caution, high ability to study and other features of behavior play a significant role.

Most house sparrows nest under roofs, behind window casings, behind wall sheathing, etc. With comfort, they are also located in hollows and birdhouses. True, starlings often survive from their birdhouses. In similar places, the tree sparrow arranges nests. But he prefers hollow trees.

Field sparrows, more gravitate towards countryside, which can be assumed from their name, and in cities most of them live in squares and parks. The house sparrow, on the contrary, is more of a city bird than a rural one. However, these attachments do not prevent both species from often settling side by side. Both field and house sparrows feed in winter on everything that they can profit from near a person. In summer, food of animal origin comes first - different insects, which birds collect in vegetable gardens, gardens, squares and parks.

Sparrows are social birds. This is especially striking in the spring, when the sparrows, as if on command, flock to one bush and, interrupting each other, begin to chirp in unison. "Collective singing" - required element their pre-breeding behavior. Its meaning in attracting to a specific site is possible more birds. He also synchronizes the mating behavior of future breeding partners, sorts out relationships, etc. After singing, courtship begins: the male lowers his wings, lifts his tail, chirps and jumps around the female like a cockerel.

Sparrows, for the most part, are typically sedentary birds. Only in some, as a rule, border regions of the range - Central Asia, Yakutia, Western Europe there are more or less regular flights.

In the conditions of the central part of Russia, house sparrows usually have three broods of chicks per season. Nesting begins in March, at which time the birds actively adjust their nests. The first eggs appear in April. The timing of oviposition depends on climatic conditions of the year. Thus, the start of laying can occur both in the first and in the third decade of April, and many (mostly one-year-old) females begin nesting in May. The nesting season ends in early - mid-August, when the birds begin post-nesting molting, during which they completely change their plumage. A.I. Ilyenko in his book writes: "for the female to lay eggs (4-5 days), incubation (11-12 days), feeding the chicks in the nest (13-15 days) and raising them after leaving the nest (at least 12 days) only needs about 41 days". After the chicks leave the nest, care for them, for the most part, falls on the male, while the female adjusts the nest and makes the next clutch. The number of eggs in a clutch varies from 3 to 9. In the tropics, it is much less than in temperate climate zone. Interestingly, in rural areas there are always more eggs in the clutch than in urban areas. Both male and female take part in incubation and feeding.

As a rule, sparrows nest in pairs - monogamous. The male and female remain faithful to each other throughout the entire nesting period, and possibly throughout their lives.

Sparrows manage to place their nests in a variety of places. According to the variety of nesting places, they hold the primacy among birds. In burrows made by birds (shore swallows, wheatears, bee-eaters) and animals (ground squirrels, gerbils, hamsters), and under the roofs of buildings, in cracks in adobe buildings, cliffs, rocks and in wells, in hollows of trees and voids in stumps, in old nests small birds and birdhouses, titmouses and other artificial nests, at the base of the nests of some large birds and, finally, just on the branches of trees.

P.N.Romanov, who was on expeditions in Western Kazakhstan, said that about 30 pairs of field sparrows settled in the nest of the imperial eagle. Here the birds felt reliable protection from the mighty eagle. Sparrows also nest in the walls of the nests of rooks, crows, and magpies.

In sparrows, eggs are distinguished by clearly visible pigmentation in the form of numerous brownish spots on a light olive or cream background.

Sparrow successfully releases hollows occupied by tits, flycatchers, redstarts, nuthatches, small spotted woodpeckers and small animals - hazel dormouse, sometimes even killing weaker hosts. A field sparrow can be evicted by a house sparrow, a starling, a wryneck and a swift. Swifts and starlings occasionally capture house sparrow nests.

The sparrow also has enemies of a different kind, which destroy its nests, eat eggs and chicks. These include marten, squirrel, great spotted woodpecker.

Sparrows can be used as nurse birds for some rare or valuable bird species. It is known that experiments in nature to replace the eggs of sparrows with the eggs of such hollow-nesting birds as tits, redstarts and even flycatchers often ended successfully. With the help of sparrows in forest parks and park areas of cities, it is possible to breed new species of birds that are desirable for us. Sparrows feed their broods mainly on insects, so they can also feed the offspring of some insectivorous birds.

There are many sparrows. Eat black-breasted sparrow. It is found in the Caucasus, Central Asia, and in general in Southern Europe, Africa and Asia. He really has a black chest and also settles near human habitation. Eat saxaul sparrow. Eat deserted- it is much lighter than its counterparts and does not chirp like them, but rather loudly screams. Eat earth sparrow- in our country lives in Altai and Transbaikalia. It is interesting in that it nests and spends the night in abandoned rodent burrows (sometimes it even arranges its nest at a depth of about a meter). Eat stone sparrow.

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We often wonder how many years such cute birds as sparrows live? In general, the life span of sparrows is short. The reasons for their death are quite diverse: they either fall into the clutches of predators, or die from hunger and cold, as well as from various diseases. But there are species that live from 10 to 20 years. Basically, these birds live far from the bustle of the city in wild nature where there are no cars, factories, chemicals, but there is enough variety and food suitable for them to be able to survive.

To date, the most common and popular species is the house sparrow (urban). He is even more famous than the rock dove. It is quite easy to distinguish it from other birds due to its peculiar color and chirping.

History of appearance

These birds used to live only in Northern Europe., but over time, their population increased, and they began to explore all of Europe and Asia. Since the twentieth century, the sparrow has been brought to many countries and today it can be found in the North and South America, Australia, New Zealand and many islands. Following the man who discovered more and more unknown countries and places, the sparrow can now be seen even in the north of Yakutia, where it is quite cold.

Main characteristics

Size and color

Lifestyle and nutrition

Due to the fact that this species is well adapted to life near people (it is a sedentary species of birds), it will always be able to find food for itself. Their diet includes various seeds of agricultural crops, cereals, berries (cherries, sweet cherries, currants and others), flower buds, various waste from human food (bread crumbs). If there are no fields or meadows near the sparrow's habitat, they feed on plant seeds. In spring, sparrows can eat insects, which they also feed their chicks.

reproduction

Sparrows - quite prolific birds. For a year of life, they can lay from 5 to 10 testicles 2-3 times. They arrange their nests in various abandoned animal burrows, in the crevices of houses, in the hollow of a tree, in ravines or in nests. big birds. The finished nest is a large structure made of straw, dry grass, branches, feathers, with a small depression in the middle for eggs. Nests that are built on tree branches are ball-shaped. irregular shape with rather thick walls and a side entrance.

While the female incubates the eggs (this process lasts from 10 to 15 days), the male brings her food: worms and insects. After the chicks hatch, both birds begin to look for food. After 10 days of life, small chicks leave the nest, and the female lays her eggs again. That is why in a year it turns out even up to 4 times to lay eggs.

They nest either in pairs or in colonies., but this happens quite rarely. Sometimes even sparrows can live their own, albeit short, life, like people, only together.

Meals in winter

Sparrows have no predisposition to fly to warmer climes in winter. That is why it is quite difficult for them to survive the cold. Dies in winter the largest number birds . There are no fat reserves in the body of a sparrow at all so he must be constantly fed. Lack of food in winter, hypothermia leads to the death of birds. Therefore, people make birdhouses in order to be able to feed them in severe cold. In summer, sparrows must also eat often, because during the flight they waste a lot of energy, and this can lead to their death. The lack of food is another indicator of the great mortality of birds.

Benefit or harm?

To date, it has not been possible to determine whether these birds are useful or not for us. The most dangerous for them are cats and birds of prey who constantly hunt them. People also often have a hand in the death of sparrows, maybe not even consciously.

By treating plants and trees with various chemicals to protect them from pests, they increase the mortality of birds, since crops are the main food source of urban sparrows. Therefore, the life expectancy of birds is less than outside the city.

Some people deliberately poison sparrows because they harm plants and cereals. And in order to protect their crops from damage, people have to resort to such harsh and at the same time cruel methods. Therefore, such birds do not live up to 4 years.

How many years does a sparrow live? Given all of the above, we can summarize that the average life expectancy of a sparrow is from 1 to 2 years. In exceptional cases, these birds live for 10 or even 20 years, but this is extremely rare.

The main causes of death:

• lack of food;
• cold;
• predatory beasts;
• ecology;
• all kinds of diseases.

The sparrow is a bird from the chaffinch family. More than 30 species of birds belong to this species. All sparrows have a strong cone-shaped, slightly curved beak. They have short legs with rather weak claws. The wings of these birds are short, rounded, and the tail is truncated.

The most common sparrow, brownie. It has a body length of up to 16 cm. The plumage on its back is rust-colored with black spots. The belly of this bird is gray, cheeks are white. The wings have a yellowish-white stripe, the throat is black. These sparrows are bold, cunning and annoying. They are found from Portugal to Siberia and even brought to America and Australia.

Sparrows of this species eat grain, make raids on gardens, pecking cherries and grapes. But still they are beneficial, destroying many harmful insects.

Field sparrows are smaller than house sparrows. Their length reaches 14 cm. They are distinguished by a red-gray nape and crown, a black spot on the cheeks and a pair of transverse stripes on the wings. These sparrows usually live in the fields and only in winter time fly into cities and towns. Such sparrows live in Europe and Central Asia. They can be found as often as brownies. House sparrows, city sparrows often use the roofs of houses or other structures for their nests. The field ones make their own nest, filling it with feathers, soft grass and wool.

The third type of sparrows, stone. They live in Southern Europe, in rocky areas. These birds are gray-brown in color, they have a yellow-white stripe above their eyes, and a yellow spot on their throat.

Sparrows feed on insects, berries and grains, and in cities they eat waste. Sparrows feed their chicks with insects, which are of great benefit to people. Where sparrows were destroyed, an invasion of insects was subsequently noticed.

The fervent chirping of these little cheerful birds is associated with spring and sunny weather. They are our permanent neighbors, which are interesting to watch. Sparrows have long been an integral part of the urban landscape.

Watch the video about the feathered soloist, Sparrow: Sparrow. Concert for a man with a camera.

Appearance

Body length 14–18 cm, weight 21–37 g. General coloration of plumage is brownish-brown above, rust-colored with black spots, whitish or gray below. The cheeks are white, the ear region is pale gray. Wings with a yellowish-white transverse stripe. The male differs from the female in the presence of a large black spot covering the chin, throat, crop and upper chest, as well as a dark gray (rather than dark brown) top of the head. The female has a gray head and throat, and a pale gray-yellow stripe above the eye.

Spreading

Previously, the habitat of the house sparrow was limited Northern Europe. Subsequently, it spread widely in Europe and Asia (with the exception of the Arctic, northeastern, southeastern and central regions Asia), as well as in North and East Africa, Senegal, Asia Minor, the Arabian Peninsula and the island of Java.

Since the 20th century, it has been introduced into different countries, settled there widely and at present, in addition to the places indicated above, also lives in South Africa, Australia, New Zealand, North and South America and many islands.

Almost everywhere it is a sedentary bird, only from the northernmost parts of its range it migrates to the south for the winter (up to 1000 km), and from Central Asia it flies to Western Asia and India.

Following human habitation, he penetrated far to the north into the forest-tundra and even tundra zone unusual for him - up to Murmansk region, the mouth of the Pechora, the north of Yakutia.

How to distinguish a male sparrow from a female?

Left - female, right - male

A male sparrow can be distinguished from a female by a characteristic black spot that covers the chin, throat, and upper chest. The head of the male also has a dark grey colour. The female sparrow is smaller in size, the head and throat are gray, and gray-yellow stripes are located above the eyes, very pale, almost imperceptible.

Features of the lifestyle and behavior of sparrows

Sparrows lead a settled way of life, having chosen a territory, they nest. The grown offspring remain close to their parents, so the sparrows form large flocks. This is facilitated by the high fertility of the sparrow, the abundance of food due to the proximity of human settlements.

Ornithologists, observing sparrows, found out that these birds create a couple for almost a lifetime. Sparrows have an average lifespan of up to 5 years. But there were specimens of birds, whose age was about 11 years. The short life expectancy of sparrows is due to the fact that young growth often dies in the very first winter. Sparrows nest almost anywhere where a nest can be placed. These are cornices of balconies, birdhouses, voids of wooden or stone buildings, sometimes pipes and even heaps of garbage. In our area, pairs form by the end of winter. At this time, sparrows (males) are lively, chirping loudly, lekking and even sometimes fighting.

sparrow feeding

Sparrow can not be called a gourmet. Its menu is diverse - from insects to human food waste. Moreover, modesty is also not their forte, in anticipation of a piece, they can jump near the table of a person ( open cafes, country terraces), and if he sits motionless, then jump on the table on his own and take care of himself.

However, at the slightest movement, the birds deftly disappear from the table, trying to grab a tasty crumb as well.

And yet, despite the pugnacious and quarrelsome character, these birds do not suit scandals over food. If one sparrow finds a lot of food, he flies for his fellow tribesmen, and only then will he start eating.

They are wary of unfamiliar food. The whole flock will not eat an unknown dish until one of the sparrows tries the food. And only after that all flock.

In the villages in the summer, these birds live freely. They peck seeds and grains of planted crops, feast on berries, and all kinds of scaring devices have little effect on them.

However, the villagers are forced to endure such a neighborhood, because sparrows destroy caterpillars and other insects.

In fact, if you watch the sparrows, then the bird is much more willing to feed in a cage with a rabbit or from a chicken cup than it will look for some larvae there. But you shouldn't be offended by this. At the heart of sparrow nutrition, nevertheless, lies plant food. Sparrows eat insects only in spring, and when feeding chicks. However, without the help of these birds it would be difficult to get rid of insects.

sparrow breeding

A male and female sparrow build a nest together. As a rule, this is a rough structure made of feathers, straw, dry grass, with a small depression in the center. Nest building begins in March, and in April the birds start laying eggs. During the season, the female can lay up to 5 clutches. The clutch usually contains up to 7 white eggs with dark spots. The incubation period for hatching eggs lasts about two weeks. Chicks hatch slightly pubescent, almost naked. Feeding offspring takes approximately 14 to 17 days, both parents feed the chicks mainly with insects.

Approximately on the 10th day, the chicks try to fly. After a couple of days in late May - early June, they leave the nests. By the end of autumn, sparrows come to life again, chirp loudly and look after females. Nest building begins. There will be no chicks in these nests until spring, and the place prepared in this way in winter will serve as protection for sparrows from autumn rains and winter frosts.

Sparrow enemy or friend?

So the sparrow fell into the "doubtful helpers." And yet, the benefits of this tiny bird more than harm. Suffice it to give a classic example - once it seemed to the Chinese that sparrows were destroying their rice crop, so the bird was declared the main enemy, they were exterminated, knowing that sparrows could not be in the air for more than 15 minutes.

The Chinese simply did not let them sit down and the birds fell to the ground already dead. But after this, the real enemy came - insects.

They multiplied to such an extent that there was no rice crop left at all, and almost 30 million people died of starvation.

So is it worth puzzling over what history has already covered. A small sparrow bird occupies a worthy place in nature, and a person only needs to protect it.

sparrow species

In nature, there are many birds that look like a sparrow, but it is not at all necessary that they belong to one of the species of this bird. Scientists ornithologists have clearly identified the species and subspecies of this bird. There are a lot of species of this bird - there are about 22. In our climate, you can meet 8.

• field;
• snowy (snow finch)
• black-breasted;
• ginger;
• stone;
• Mongolian earth sparrow;
• short-fingered;
• house sparrow.

Field Sparrow / Passer montanus

The tree sparrow usually nests in light forests and parklands, where open spaces are interspersed with tree plantations, in groves and coastal vegetation. It also inhabits old parks and gardens. Common in rural areas and some cities, especially in areas where there is no house sparrow. It nests in dense colonies and separate pairs in hollows and birdhouses, less often in cracks in buildings. It also settles in voids between branches of large nests of storks and diurnal predators. Sometimes builds globular nests in the tops of trees. The clutch usually contains 5-6 eggs. It lives in almost all of Eurasia, except for the most northern regions.

Snow Sparrow / Montifringilla nivalis

Snow sparrows have a rather unusual range of distribution that extends across mountain ranges Southern Europe, Asia Minor, Caucasus, Southwestern Iran, Pamirs, Altai and Northeast China. They nest in the alpine zone below the level of eternal snows - in meadows between cliffs and rocky slopes, on boulder slopes and lava fields. The nest is placed in the crevices of rocks, as well as in the voids of buildings (in mountain shacks, old fortifications, lift cabins). They live in small colonies of 2 to 6 pairs.

Black-breasted Sparrow / Passer hispaniolensis

The black-breasted sparrow is a small bird, slightly larger than the house sparrow. The black-breasted sparrow weighs 27–30 g. The male differs from the female in its black back and black chest, as well as in large longitudinal streaks on the sides of the body. It is distributed from southern Europe and North Africa through Asia Minor to Afghanistan and northwestern India. In our country it is found in the Caucasus and Central Asia. It is a migratory bird and only in the south of its range is a settled bird. Inhabits the cultural landscape - groves, gardens, tugai thickets, outskirts of settlements.

Red Sparrow / Passer rutilans

The red sparrow is found in the South and East Asia, which differs from other sparrows in the chestnut-red color of the plumage of the top of the head and back. Breeds in sparse forests, mostly deciduous, along forest margins and floodplain forests. Nests are usually arranged in hollows, less often in human settlements or on bushes.

Rock Sparrow / Petronia petronia

The distribution area of ​​​​the stone sparrow extends from Southern Europe and North Africa to Central and Central Asia, as well as in Eastern China. Inhabits open illuminated places on stony slopes, arid stony deserts with scattered trees and shrubs, as well as pastures and surroundings of cereal fields. The nest is located in deep niches and crevices of rocks, in ruins or on buildings. It also settles in hollows and uninhabited burrows of mammals. It rises to the mountains up to a height of 2040 m.

Earth Sparrow / Pyrgilauda davidiana

ground sparrow by appearance and plumage color is similar to real sparrows, but differs from them in white spots on the tail and wings. Distributed in the Gobi desert, and in Russia - in the South-Eastern Altai and South-Eastern Transbaikalia. By way of life, this is a sedentary bird that lives in hilly steppes and desert mountains, in wide valleys, on flat areas with sparse grass. It nests, sleeps and hides in abandoned burrows of pikas and other rodents. The nest is placed at a depth of up to 75 cm from the entrance to the hole, in the former living chamber of the rodent. The nest is a recess lined with wool, sometimes with feathers, in a heap of hay, dragged by the animal. Clutch contains 5-6 eggs. Some time after the departure of the chicks, the broods unite into small flocks, which persist throughout the winter. Feeds on insects and grass seeds. In northern Afghanistan, another species of earth sparrows is found - the Afghan sparrow (P. theresae), similar to the previous one.

Short-legged Sparrow / Petronia brachydactyla

The short-legged sparrow, a close relative of the stone sparrow, is found in Syria, Palestine, Iraq, Iran, as well as in Turkmenistan and Transcaucasia. This migrant. Winters in Arabia and Africa.

House Sparrow / Passer domesticus

The house sparrow is the most common species of the genus of true sparrows of the passerine family. This is one of the most famous birds that live in the neighborhood of a human dwelling (hence its specific name "brownie") and is well recognizable both in appearance and in its characteristic chirp.

Perhaps someone has heard of a strange bird "sparrow-camel". This bird has nothing to do with a sparrow, and is not any type of passerine. This is the name of the well-known ostrich, which in translation means "sparrow - camel." All species of passerines have some features, but the main characteristic of this bird is common to all.