Tree Sparrow

Passer montanus (Linnaeus, 1758)

2018-02-16 Tyumen region, Tyumen	© Mariya Lupinos

Description

The adult spring Tree Sparrows have brown crown and neck and white flanks. The lore, under eye strip and the spot on the rear part of the ear coverts are black. The mantle and shoulders are clayey-brown with black longitudinal strips. The rump and uppertail are buffy-brownish. The lesser wing coverts are rusty-chestnut, median coverts are black with the white tips formed the wing bar; the greater coverts are dark-brownish with the broad clayey-yellow edges and white tips. The primaries are dark-brownish with the narrow light edges on the outer web and the bad expressed light tips. The secondaries are black-brownish with broad clayey-yellow edges. The tail feathers are grayish-brownish. The underparts are dirty-white, there is large black patch on the chin and throat. The flanks are olive-grey. The bill is black, legs are light-brownish, claws are rosy, eyes are dark-brown. In fresh plumage after the molting the light-buffy edges of the feathers are well expressed; the bill is brownish-black. Juveniles have the grayish-brown crown and neck; and the buffy-grey with dark-brown strips mantle. The wings are paler, the edges on feathers are narrower than on adults. The spots on the head's flanks and on the throat are grey. Weight 17,0-28,0 grams, wing 66-75, tail 47-57 mm.

References