House Sparrow

Passer domesticus (Linnaeus,1758)

2015-03-27 Tyumen region, Tyumen	© Maksim Mitropolskiy

Description

The House Sparrow is well known bird. The male has the dark-grey dark mottled crown and the dark-grey rump. The uppertail is olive-grey. The mantle is chestnut-brown with black longitudinal strips. The lores and under-eye strip are black. Behind the eyes and on the flanks of the head there are the broad chestnut bands connected on the neck. The cheeks are grey or dirty-white; the chin, throat, craw and top of the breast are black. The underparts are light-grey with the dark cores on the undertail. The lesser wing coverts are chestnut; median coverts are dark-brown with white tips; the greater coverts are blackish-brown with the broad clay-color edges. The flight feathers are dark-brownish with brown-clayey edges. The tail feathers are brownish with the narrow light edges. The bill is black, legs are dark-brown, and claws are black or dark-brown. The female is similar on female of Indian Sparrow but darker and dimmer. The bill is dark-brownish lighting to the base of the lower mandible. After the molting both male and female have brownish and buffy edges of the feathers. Juveniles are similar on female but have more brownish olive tinged color. The crown, wings and tail are slightly lighter. The bill is light-brownish. Weight 25,5-37,7 grams, wings 70-81, tail 45-62 mm.

References