{Taxobox
| name = Tree Sparrow
| status = LC
| status_system = IUCN3.1
| status_ref =
| image = Tree_Sparrow_Japan_Flip.jpg
| image_caption = Adult of subspecies
P. m. saturatus in Japan
Original image reversed
| image_width=300px
| regnum =
AnimalAnimals are a major group of mostly multicellular, eukaryotic organisms of the kingdom Animalia or Metazoa. Their body plan eventually becomes fixed as they develop, although some undergo a process of metamorphosis later on in their life. Most animals are motile, meaning they can move spontaneously...
ia
| phylum =
ChordataChordates are animals which are either vertebrates or one of several closely related invertebrates. They are united by having, for at least some period of their life cycle, a notochord, a hollow dorsal nerve cord, pharyngeal slits, an endostyle, and a post-anal tail...
| classis =
AvesBirds are winged, bipedal, endothermic , vertebrate animals that lay eggs. There are around 10,000 living species, making them the most numerous tetrapod vertebrates. They inhabit ecosystems across the globe, from the Arctic to the Antarctic. Birds range in size from the Bee Hummingbird to the ...
| ordo =
PasseriformesA passerine is a bird of the order Passeriformes, which includes more than half of all bird species. Sometimes known as perching birds or, less accurately, as songbirds, the passerines form one of the most diverse terrestrial vertebrate orders:...
| familia =
PasseridaeTrue sparrows, the Old World sparrows in the family Passeridae, are small passerine birds. As eight or more species nest in or near buildings, and the House Sparrow and Eurasian Tree Sparrow in particular inhabit cities in large numbers, sparrows may be the most familiar of all wild...
| genus =
PasserPasser is a genus of Old World sparrows. Most of its members are found naturally in open habitats in the warmer climates of Africa and southern Eurasia...
| species =
P.
{Taxobox
| name = Tree Sparrow
| status = LC
| status_system = IUCN3.1
| status_ref =
| image = Tree_Sparrow_Japan_Flip.jpg
| image_caption = Adult of subspecies
P. m. saturatus in Japan
Original image reversed
| image_width=300px
| regnum =
AnimalAnimals are a major group of mostly multicellular, eukaryotic organisms of the kingdom Animalia or Metazoa. Their body plan eventually becomes fixed as they develop, although some undergo a process of metamorphosis later on in their life. Most animals are motile, meaning they can move spontaneously...
ia
| phylum =
ChordataChordates are animals which are either vertebrates or one of several closely related invertebrates. They are united by having, for at least some period of their life cycle, a notochord, a hollow dorsal nerve cord, pharyngeal slits, an endostyle, and a post-anal tail...
| classis =
AvesBirds are winged, bipedal, endothermic , vertebrate animals that lay eggs. There are around 10,000 living species, making them the most numerous tetrapod vertebrates. They inhabit ecosystems across the globe, from the Arctic to the Antarctic. Birds range in size from the Bee Hummingbird to the ...
| ordo =
PasseriformesA passerine is a bird of the order Passeriformes, which includes more than half of all bird species. Sometimes known as perching birds or, less accurately, as songbirds, the passerines form one of the most diverse terrestrial vertebrate orders:...
| familia =
PasseridaeTrue sparrows, the Old World sparrows in the family Passeridae, are small passerine birds. As eight or more species nest in or near buildings, and the House Sparrow and Eurasian Tree Sparrow in particular inhabit cities in large numbers, sparrows may be the most familiar of all wild...
| genus =
PasserPasser is a genus of Old World sparrows. Most of its members are found naturally in open habitats in the warmer climates of Africa and southern Eurasia...
| species =
P. montanus
| binomial =
Passer montanus
| binomial_authority = (Linnaeus, 1758)
| range_map = Passermontanusmap.png
| range_map_width = 300px
| range_map_caption =
Afro-Eurasian distribution
{{Taxobox
| name = Tree Sparrow
| status = LC
| status_system = IUCN3.1
| status_ref =
| image = Tree_Sparrow_Japan_Flip.jpg
| image_caption = Adult of subspecies
P. m. saturatus in Japan
Original image reversed
| image_width=300px
| regnum =
AnimalAnimals are a major group of mostly multicellular, eukaryotic organisms of the kingdom Animalia or Metazoa. Their body plan eventually becomes fixed as they develop, although some undergo a process of metamorphosis later on in their life. Most animals are motile, meaning they can move spontaneously...
ia
| phylum =
ChordataChordates are animals which are either vertebrates or one of several closely related invertebrates. They are united by having, for at least some period of their life cycle, a notochord, a hollow dorsal nerve cord, pharyngeal slits, an endostyle, and a post-anal tail...
| classis =
AvesBirds are winged, bipedal, endothermic , vertebrate animals that lay eggs. There are around 10,000 living species, making them the most numerous tetrapod vertebrates. They inhabit ecosystems across the globe, from the Arctic to the Antarctic. Birds range in size from the Bee Hummingbird to the ...
| ordo =
PasseriformesA passerine is a bird of the order Passeriformes, which includes more than half of all bird species. Sometimes known as perching birds or, less accurately, as songbirds, the passerines form one of the most diverse terrestrial vertebrate orders:...
| familia =
PasseridaeTrue sparrows, the Old World sparrows in the family Passeridae, are small passerine birds. As eight or more species nest in or near buildings, and the House Sparrow and Eurasian Tree Sparrow in particular inhabit cities in large numbers, sparrows may be the most familiar of all wild...
| genus =
PasserPasser is a genus of Old World sparrows. Most of its members are found naturally in open habitats in the warmer climates of Africa and southern Eurasia...
| species =
P. montanus
| binomial =
Passer montanus
| binomial_authority = (Linnaeus, 1758)
| range_map = Passermontanusmap.png
| range_map_width = 300px
| range_map_caption =
Afro-Eurasian distribution
{{Taxobox
| name = Tree Sparrow
| status = LC
| status_system = IUCN3.1
| status_ref =
| image = Tree_Sparrow_Japan_Flip.jpg
| image_caption = Adult of subspecies
P. m. saturatus in Japan
Original image reversed
| image_width=300px
| regnum =
AnimalAnimals are a major group of mostly multicellular, eukaryotic organisms of the kingdom Animalia or Metazoa. Their body plan eventually becomes fixed as they develop, although some undergo a process of metamorphosis later on in their life. Most animals are motile, meaning they can move spontaneously...
ia
| phylum =
ChordataChordates are animals which are either vertebrates or one of several closely related invertebrates. They are united by having, for at least some period of their life cycle, a notochord, a hollow dorsal nerve cord, pharyngeal slits, an endostyle, and a post-anal tail...
| classis =
AvesBirds are winged, bipedal, endothermic , vertebrate animals that lay eggs. There are around 10,000 living species, making them the most numerous tetrapod vertebrates. They inhabit ecosystems across the globe, from the Arctic to the Antarctic. Birds range in size from the Bee Hummingbird to the ...
| ordo =
PasseriformesA passerine is a bird of the order Passeriformes, which includes more than half of all bird species. Sometimes known as perching birds or, less accurately, as songbirds, the passerines form one of the most diverse terrestrial vertebrate orders:...
| familia =
PasseridaeTrue sparrows, the Old World sparrows in the family Passeridae, are small passerine birds. As eight or more species nest in or near buildings, and the House Sparrow and Eurasian Tree Sparrow in particular inhabit cities in large numbers, sparrows may be the most familiar of all wild...
| genus =
PasserPasser is a genus of Old World sparrows. Most of its members are found naturally in open habitats in the warmer climates of Africa and southern Eurasia...
| species =
P. montanus
| binomial =
Passer montanus
| binomial_authority = (Linnaeus, 1758)
| range_map = Passermontanusmap.png
| range_map_width = 300px
| range_map_caption =
Afro-Eurasian distribution
{{Taxobox
| name = Tree Sparrow
| status = LC
| status_system = IUCN3.1
| status_ref =
| image = Tree_Sparrow_Japan_Flip.jpg
| image_caption = Adult of subspecies
P. m. saturatus in Japan
Original image reversed
| image_width=300px
| regnum =
AnimalAnimals are a major group of mostly multicellular, eukaryotic organisms of the kingdom Animalia or Metazoa. Their body plan eventually becomes fixed as they develop, although some undergo a process of metamorphosis later on in their life. Most animals are motile, meaning they can move spontaneously...
ia
| phylum =
ChordataChordates are animals which are either vertebrates or one of several closely related invertebrates. They are united by having, for at least some period of their life cycle, a notochord, a hollow dorsal nerve cord, pharyngeal slits, an endostyle, and a post-anal tail...
| classis =
AvesBirds are winged, bipedal, endothermic , vertebrate animals that lay eggs. There are around 10,000 living species, making them the most numerous tetrapod vertebrates. They inhabit ecosystems across the globe, from the Arctic to the Antarctic. Birds range in size from the Bee Hummingbird to the ...
| ordo =
PasseriformesA passerine is a bird of the order Passeriformes, which includes more than half of all bird species. Sometimes known as perching birds or, less accurately, as songbirds, the passerines form one of the most diverse terrestrial vertebrate orders:...
| familia =
PasseridaeTrue sparrows, the Old World sparrows in the family Passeridae, are small passerine birds. As eight or more species nest in or near buildings, and the House Sparrow and Eurasian Tree Sparrow in particular inhabit cities in large numbers, sparrows may be the most familiar of all wild...
| genus =
PasserPasser is a genus of Old World sparrows. Most of its members are found naturally in open habitats in the warmer climates of Africa and southern Eurasia...
| species =
P. montanus
| binomial =
Passer montanus
| binomial_authority = (Linnaeus, 1758)
| range_map = Passermontanusmap.png
| range_map_width = 300px
| range_map_caption =
Afro-Eurasian distribution
{{Taxobox
| name = Tree Sparrow
| status = LC
| status_system = IUCN3.1
| status_ref =
| image = Tree_Sparrow_Japan_Flip.jpg
| image_caption = Adult of subspecies
P. m. saturatus in Japan
Original image reversed
| image_width=300px
| regnum =
AnimalAnimals are a major group of mostly multicellular, eukaryotic organisms of the kingdom Animalia or Metazoa. Their body plan eventually becomes fixed as they develop, although some undergo a process of metamorphosis later on in their life. Most animals are motile, meaning they can move spontaneously...
ia
| phylum =
ChordataChordates are animals which are either vertebrates or one of several closely related invertebrates. They are united by having, for at least some period of their life cycle, a notochord, a hollow dorsal nerve cord, pharyngeal slits, an endostyle, and a post-anal tail...
| classis =
AvesBirds are winged, bipedal, endothermic , vertebrate animals that lay eggs. There are around 10,000 living species, making them the most numerous tetrapod vertebrates. They inhabit ecosystems across the globe, from the Arctic to the Antarctic. Birds range in size from the Bee Hummingbird to the ...
| ordo =
PasseriformesA passerine is a bird of the order Passeriformes, which includes more than half of all bird species. Sometimes known as perching birds or, less accurately, as songbirds, the passerines form one of the most diverse terrestrial vertebrate orders:...
| familia =
PasseridaeTrue sparrows, the Old World sparrows in the family Passeridae, are small passerine birds. As eight or more species nest in or near buildings, and the House Sparrow and Eurasian Tree Sparrow in particular inhabit cities in large numbers, sparrows may be the most familiar of all wild...
| genus =
PasserPasser is a genus of Old World sparrows. Most of its members are found naturally in open habitats in the warmer climates of Africa and southern Eurasia...
| species =
P. montanus
| binomial =
Passer montanus
| binomial_authority = (Linnaeus, 1758)
| range_map = Passermontanusmap.png
| range_map_width = 300px
| range_map_caption =
Afro-Eurasian distribution{{Legend2|#FFFF00|Breeding summer visitor|border=1px solid #aaa}}
{{Legend2|#007D10|Resident breeder|border=1px solid #aaa}}
{{Legend2|#00FFFF|Non-breeding winter visitor |border=1px solid #aaa}}}}
The Tree Sparrow, Passer montanus, is a passerineA passerine is a bird of the order Passeriformes, which includes more than half of all bird species. Sometimes known as perching birds or, less accurately, as songbirds, the passerines form one of the most diverse terrestrial vertebrate orders:...
bird in the family PasseridaeTrue sparrows, the Old World sparrows in the family Passeridae, are small passerine birds. As eight or more species nest in or near buildings, and the House Sparrow and Eurasian Tree Sparrow in particular inhabit cities in large numbers, sparrows may be the most familiar of all wild...
with a rich chestnut crownA crown is the top of the head.The following birds and other animals are said to have a crown on their head:* Cranes** Grey-crowned Crane** Red-crowned Crane** Black-crowned Crane* Crowned eagle* Gray-crowned Rosy Finch* Yellow-crowned Gonolek...
and napeThe nape is the back of the neck. In many mammals, the nape is the site of the scruff, a loose, non-sensitive area of skin by which the mother can carry her young, holding the scruff between her teeth...
, and a black patch on each pure white cheek. The sexes are similarly plumagePlumage refers both to the layer of feathers that cover a bird and the pattern, colour, and arrangement of those feathers. The pattern and colours of plumage vary between species and subspecies and can also vary between different age classes, sexes, and season. Within species there can also be a...
d, and young birds are a duller version of the adult. This sparrowTrue sparrows, the Old World sparrows in the family Passeridae, are small passerine birds. As eight or more species nest in or near buildings, and the House Sparrow and Eurasian Tree Sparrow in particular inhabit cities in large numbers, sparrows may be the most familiar of all wild...
breeds over most of temperate EurasiaEurasia is a large landmass covering about 52,990,000 km
2 or about 10.6% of the Earth's surface...
and Southeast AsiaManila
Bangkok
Ho Chi Minh City
Kuala Lumpur
Singapore
Yangon
Bandung
Hanoi
Surabaya
Taichung
Kaohsiung
Medan|-|}...
, and has been introduced elsewhere, including the United States (where it is known as the Eurasian Tree Sparrow or German Sparrow to differentiate it from the native, unrelated American Tree SparrowThe American Tree Sparrow, Spizella arborea, is a medium-sized sparrow.Adults have a rusty cap and grey underparts with a small dark spot on the breast. They have a rusty back with lighter stripes, brown wings with white bars and a slim tail. Their face is grey with a rusty line through the eye....
). Although several subspecies are recognised, the appearance of this bird varies little across its extensive range.
The Tree Sparrow's untidy nest is built in a natural cavity, a hole in a building or the large nest of a magpieThe European Magpie or Common Magpie is a resident breeding bird throughout Europe, much of Asia, and northwest Africa. It is one of several birds in the crow family named as magpies, and belongs to the Holarctic radiation of "monochrome" magpies.In Europe, "Magpie" is used by English speakers as...
or storkThe White Stork is a large wading bird in the stork family Ciconiidae, breeding in the warmer parts of Europe , northwest Africa, and southwest Asia...
. The typical clutchA clutch of eggs refers to all the eggs produced by birds or reptiles often at a single time, particularly those laid in a nest.-Size:Clutch size will differ greatly between species, sometimes even within the same genus. It may also differ within the same species due to many factors including...
is five or six eggs which hatch in under two weeks. This sparrow feeds mainly on seeds, but invertebrates are also consumed, particularly during the breeding season. As with other small birds, infection by parasites and diseases, and predation by birds of preyBirds of prey are birds that hunt for food primarily on the wing, using their keen senses, especially vision. They are defined as any bird that kills its prey with its talons. Their talons and beaks tend to be relatively large, powerful and adapted for tearing and/or piercing flesh. In most cases,...
take their toll, and the typical life span is about two years.
The Tree Sparrow is widespread in the towns and cities of eastern Asia, but in Europe it is a bird of lightly wooded open countryside, with the House Sparrow breeding in the more urban areas. The Tree Sparrow's extensive range and large population ensure that it is not endangered globally, but there have been large declines in western European populations, in part due to changes in farming practices involving increased use of herbicides and loss of winter stubble fields. In eastern Asia and western Australia, this species is sometimes viewed as a pest, although it is also widely celebrated in oriental art.
Description
The Tree Sparrow is 12.5–14 cm (5–5½ in) long, with a wingspanThe wingspan of an airplane or a bird, is the distance from the left wingtip to the right wingtip. For example, the Boeing 777 has a wingspan of about ; and a Wandering Albatross caught in 1965 had a wingspan of , the official record for a living bird.The term wingspan, more technically extent,...
of about 21 cm (8.25 in) and a weight of 24 g (0.86 oz), making it roughly 10% smaller than the House Sparrow. The adult's crown and nape are rich chestnutChestnut, also known as Indian red, is a color, a medium brownish shade of red, and is named after the nut of the chestnut tree. As Indian red, it is named after the red laterite soil found in India. It is thus an earth tone as well as a red. It is composed of naturally occurring iron oxides....
, and there is a kidney-shaped black ear patch on each pure white cheek; the chin, throat, and the area between the bill and throat are black. The upperparts are light brown, streaked with black, and the brown wings have two distinct narrow white bars. The legs are pale brown, and the bill is lead-blue in summer, becoming almost black in winter.
This sparrow is distinctive even within its genus in that it has no plumage differences between the sexes; the juvenile also resembles the adult, although the colours tend to be duller. Its contrasting face pattern makes this species easily identifiable in all plumages; the smaller size and brown, not grey, crown are additional differences from the male House Sparrow. Adult and juvenile Tree Sparrows undergo a slow complete moultIn biology, moulting signifies the manner in which an animal routinely casts off a part of its body , either at specific times of year, or at specific points in its life-cycle.Moulting can involve the epidermis , pelage In biology, moulting (or molting, also known as sloughing, shedding or for...
in the autumn, and show an increase in body mass despite a reduction in stored fat. The change in mass is due to an increase in blood volume to support active feather growth, and a generally higher water content in the body.
The Tree Sparrow has no true song, but its vocalisations include an excited series of tschip calls given by unpaired or courting males. Other monosyllabic chirps are used in social contacts, and the flight call is a harsh teck. A study comparing the vocalisations of the introduced Missouri population with those of birds from Germany showed that the US birds had fewer shared syllable types (memeA meme is a postulated unit or element of cultural ideas, symbols or practices, and is transmitted from one mind to another through speech, gestures, rituals, or other imitable phenomena...
s) and more structure within the population than the European sparrows. This may have resulted from the small size of the founding North American population and a consequent loss of genetic diversityGenetic diversity is a level of biodiversity that refers to the total number of genetic characteristics in the genetic makeup of a species. It is distinguished from genetic variability, which describes the tendency of genetic characteristics to vary....
.
Taxonomy
The Old World sparrowTrue sparrows, the Old World sparrows in the family Passeridae, are small passerine birds. As eight or more species nest in or near buildings, and the House Sparrow and Eurasian Tree Sparrow in particular inhabit cities in large numbers, sparrows may be the most familiar of all wild...
genus PasserPasser is a genus of Old World sparrows. Most of its members are found naturally in open habitats in the warmer climates of Africa and southern Eurasia...
is a group of small passerineA passerine is a bird of the order Passeriformes, which includes more than half of all bird species. Sometimes known as perching birds or, less accurately, as songbirds, the passerines form one of the most diverse terrestrial vertebrate orders:...
birds that is believed to have originated in Africa, and which contains 15–25 species depending on the authority. Its members are typically found in open, lightly wooded, habitats, although several species, notably the House SparrowThe House Sparrow is a member of the Old World sparrow family Passeridae, considered by some to be a relative of the Weaver Finch Family.It occurs naturally in most of Europe and much of Asia...
(P. domesticus) have adapted to human habitations. Most species in the genus are typically 10–20 cm (4–8 in) long, predominantly brown or greyish birds with short square tails and stubby conical beaks. They are primarily ground-feeding seed-eaters, although they also consume invertebrates, especially when breeding. The Tree Sparrow's binomial name is derived from two LatinLatin is an Italic language originally spoken in Latium and Ancient Rome. Through the Roman conquest, Latin spread throughout the Mediterranean and a large part of Europe...
words: passer, "sparrow", and montanus, "mountaineer" (from mons "mountain").
The Tree Sparrow was first described by Carl Linnaeus in his 1758 Systema NaturaeThe book Systema Naturae was one of the major works of the Swedish botanist, zoologist and physician Carolus Linnaeus. Its full title is Systema naturae per regna tria naturae, secundum classes, ordines, genera, species, cum characteribus, differentiis, synonymis, locis or translated: "System of...
as Fringilla montana, but, along with the House Sparrow, it was soon moved from the finchThe true finches are passerine birds in the family Fringillidae. They are predominantly seed-eating songbirds. Most are native to Southern Hemisphere, but one subfamily is endemic to the Neotropics, one to the Hawaiian Islands, and one subfamily – monotypic at genus level – is found...
es (family Fringillidae) into the new genus Passer created by French zoologist Mathurin Jacques BrissonMathurin Jacques Brisson was a French zoologist and natural philosopher.Brisson was born at Fontenay-le-Comte. The earlier part of his life was spent in the pursuit of natural history, his published works in this department including Le Règne animal and Ornithologie...
in 1760. The Tree Sparrow diverged genetically from the other Eurasian members of its genus relatively early, before the speciationSpeciation is the evolutionary process by which new biological species arise. The biologist Orator F. Cook seems to have been the first to coin the term 'speciation' for the splitting of lineages or 'cladogenesis,' as opposed to 'anagenesis' or 'phyletic evolution' occurring within lineages...
of the House, PeguThe Pegu Sparrow or Plain-backed Sparrow Passer flaveolus is a sparrow found in the Asian countries of Burma, Thailand, Cambodia, Laos, Vietnam and Malaya....
and Spanish SparrowThe Spanish Sparrow Passer hispaniolensis, also known as the Willow Sparrow, is a species of sparrow closely related to the House Sparrow...
s. The Eurasian species is not closely related to the American Tree SparrowThe American Tree Sparrow, Spizella arborea, is a medium-sized sparrow.Adults have a rusty cap and grey underparts with a small dark spot on the breast. They have a rusty back with lighter stripes, brown wings with white bars and a slim tail. Their face is grey with a rusty line through the eye....
(Spizella arborea), which is a member of the buntingBuntings are a group of Eurasian and African passerine birds of the family Emberizidae.They are seed-eating birds with stubby, conical bills, and are the Old World equivalents of the species known in North America as sparrows...
and American sparrowAmerican sparrows are a group of mainly New World passerine birds, forming part of the family Emberizidae. American sparrows are seed-eating birds with conical bills, brown or gray in color, and many species have distinctive head patterns....
family EmberizidaeThe Emberizidae are a large family of passerine birds.They are seed-eating birds with a distinctively shaped bill. In Europe, most species are named as buntings....
.
Subspecies
This species varies little in appearance across its large range, and the differences between the eight extant subspeciesSubspecies in biological classification, is 1) a taxonomic rank subordinate to species, or 2) a taxonomic unit, a taxon in that rank...
recognised by Clement are slight. At least 15 other subspecies have been proposed, but are considered to be intermediates of the listed racesIn biology, a race is any inbreeding group, including taxonomic subgroups such as subspecies, taxonomically subordinate to a species and superordinate to a subrace and marked by a pre-determined profile of latent factors of hereditary traits....
.
- P. m. montanus, the nominate subspecies, ranges across Europe except southwestern Iberia
The Iberian Peninsula, or Iberia, is located in the extreme southwest of Europe and includes modern-day Spain, Portugal, Andorra and Gibraltar and a very small area of France. It is the westernmost of the three major southern European peninsulas—the Iberian, Italian, and Balkan peninsulas...
, southern GreeceGreece , officially the Hellenic Republic , is a country in southeastern Europe, situated on the southern end of the Balkan Peninsula....
, and the former YugoslaviaYugoslavia is a term that describes three political entities that existed successively on the Balkan Peninsula in Europe, during most of the 20th century.The first country to be known by this...
. It also breeds in Asia east to the Lena RiverThe Lena is the easternmost of the three great Siberian rivers that flow into the Arctic Ocean . It is the 10th longest river in the world and has the 9th largest watershed. It is the greatest Russian river with its watershed entirely within national ranges...
and south to the northern regions of TurkeyTurkey , known officially as the Republic of Turkey
, is a Eurasian country that stretches across the Anatolian peninsula in Western Asia and Thrace in the Balkan region of southeastern Europe...
, the CaucasusThe Caucasus or Caucas is a geopolitical region between at the border of Europe and Asia. It is home to the Caucasus Mountains, including Europe's highest mountain ....
, KazakhstanKazakhstan , officially the Republic of Kazakhstan, is a country situated in Eurasia that is ranked as the ninth largest country in the world. It is also the world's largest landlocked country. Its territory of 2,727,300 km² is greater than Western Europe...
, MongoliaMongolia is a landlocked country in East and Central Asia. It borders Russia to the north and the People's Republic of China to the south, east and west. Although Mongolia does not share a border with Kazakhstan, its western-most point is only 24 miles from Kazakhstan's eastern tip. Ulan Bator,...
and KoreaKorea is a civilization and formerly unified nation currently divided into two states. Located on the Korean Peninsula, it borders China to the northwest, Russia to the northeast, and is separated from Japan to the east by the Korea Strait....
.
- P. m. transcaucasicus, described by Sergei Aleksandrovich Buturlin
Sergei Aleksandrovich Buturlin was a Russian ornithologist.A scion of one of the oldest families of Russian nobility, Buturlin spent most his life in Russia. He went to school in Simbirsk and studied jurisprudence in St...
in 1906, breeds from the southern Caucasus east to northern IranIran , officially the Islamic Republic of Iran is a country in Western Asia. The name Iran has been in use natively since the Sassanid period and came into international use from 1935, before which the country was known internationally as Persia...
. It is duller and greyer than the nominate race.
- P. m. dilutus, described by Charles Wallace Richmond
Charles Wallace Richmond was an American ornithologist. He is best remembered for a compilation of the Latin names of birds that is called the Richmond Index.-Life and work:...
in 1856, is resident in the extreme northeast of Iran, northern PakistanPakistan , officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, is a country located at the crossroads of South Asia, the Middle East, and Central Asia...
and northwest IndiaIndia, officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the south, the Arabian Sea on the west, and the Bay of Bengal...
. It also occurs further north, from UzbekistanUzbekistan, officially the Republic of Uzbekistan , is a doubly landlocked country in Central Asia, formerly part of the Soviet Union...
and TajikistanTajikistan , officially the Republic of Tajikistan , is a mountainous landlocked country in Central Asia. Afghanistan borders it to the south, Uzbekistan to the west, Kyrgyzstan to the north, and People's Republic of China to the east...
east to ChinaChina is a cultural region, an ancient civilization, and, depending on perspective, a national or multinational entity extending over a large area in East Asia....
. Compared to P. m. montanus, it is paler, with sandy-brown upperparts.
- P. m. tibetanus, the largest race by size, was described by Stuart Baker
Edward Charles Stuart Baker CIE OBE FZS FLS was a British ornithologist and police officer.-Life and career:Baker was educated at Trinity College, Stratford-upon-Avon and in 1883 followed his father into the Indian Police Service. He spent most of his career in India in the Assam Police, rising to...
in 1925. It is found in the northern HimalayasThe Himalaya Range or Himalayas for short , meaning "abode of snow", is a mountain range in Asia, separating the Indian subcontinent from the Tibetan Plateau...
, from NepalNepal , officially the Federal Democratic Republic of Nepal, is a landlocked country in South Asia and the world's youngest republic. It is bordered to the north by the People's Republic of China, and to the south, east, and west by the Republic of India...
east through TibetTibet is a plateau region in Asia, north of the Himalayas. It is home to the indigenous Tibetan people, and to some other ethnic groups such as Monpas and Lhobas, and is now also inhabited by considerable numbers of Han Chinese people. Tibet is the highest region on earth, with an average...
to northwest China. It resembles P. m. dilutus, but is darker.
- P. m. saturatus, described by Leonhard Hess Stejneger
Leonhard Hess Stejneger was an American ornithologist, herpetologist and zoologist. Stejneger specialized in vertebrate natural history studies. He gained his greatest reputation with reptiles and amphibians....
in 1885, breeds in SakhalinSakhalin , also Saghalien, is a large elongated island in the North Pacific, lying between 45°50' and 54°24' N. It is part of Russia and is its largest island, administered as part of Sakhalin Oblast. The indigenous peoples of the island are the Sakhalin Ainu, Oroks, and Nivkhs...
, the Kuril IslandsThe Kuril Islands or Kurile Islands in Russia's Sakhalin Oblast region, is a volcanic archipelago that stretches approximately northeast from Hokkaidō, Japan, to Kamchatka, Russia, separating the Sea of Okhotsk from the North Pacific Ocean...
, Japanis an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, People's Republic of China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
, TaiwanTaiwan , also known as Formosa , is the largest island of the Republic of China in East Asia. Taiwan is located east of the Taiwan Strait, off the southeastern coast of mainland China...
and South KoreaSouth Korea, officially the Republic of Korea and often simply referred to as Korea, is a country in East Asia, located on the southern half of the Korean Peninsula. It is neighbored by China to the west, Japan to the east, and North Korea to the north. Its capital is Seoul, the second largest...
. It is deeper brown than the nominate subspecies and has a larger bill.
- P. m. malaccensis, described by Alphonse Dubois
Alphonse Joseph Charles Dubois was a Belgium naturalist, born in 1839 at Aix-la-Chapelle and died in 1920 at Coxyde-sur-Mer. He took a doctorate in medicine, and in 1869 became curator of the department of vertebrates at the Royal Museum of Natural History in Brussels.He worked with his father,...
in 1885, is found from the southern HimalayasThe Himalaya Range or Himalayas for short , meaning "abode of snow", is a mountain range in Asia, separating the Indian subcontinent from the Tibetan Plateau...
east to HainanHainan is the smallest province of the People's Republic of China . Although the province comprises some two hundred islands scattered among three archipelagos off the southern coast, all but three percent of its land mass is on Hainan Island , from which the province takes its name...
and IndonesiaThe Republic of Indonesia is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania. Indonesia comprises 17,508 islands. With an estimated population of around 237 million people, it is the world's fourth most populous country, with the world's largest population of Muslims.Indonesia is a republic, with an...
. It is a dark race, like P. m. saturatus, but is smaller and more heavily streaked on its upperparts.
- P. m. hepaticus, described by Sidney Dillon Ripley
Sidney Dillon Ripley was a noted American ornithologist and leader in wildlife conservation. He served as Secretary of the Smithsonian Institution from 1964 to 1984.-Biography:...
in 1948, breeds from northeast AssamAssam ) is a northeastern state of India with its capital at Dispur located in the Guwahati city. Located south of the eastern Himalayas, Assam comprises the Brahmaputra and the Barak river valleys and the Karbi Anglong and the North Cachar Hills with an area of 30,285 square miles...
to northwest Burma. It is similar to P. m. saturatus, but redder on its head and upperparts.
Distribution and habitat
The Tree Sparrow's natural breeding range comprises most of temperate Europe and Asia south of about latitude 68°NThe 68th parallel north is a circle of latitude that is 68 degrees north of the Earth's equatorial plane, in the Arctic.Starting at the Prime Meridian and heading eastwards, the parallel 68° north passes through:-See also:*67th parallel north...
(north of this the summers are too cold, with July average temperatures below 12°C) and through Southeast AsiaManila
Bangkok
Ho Chi Minh City
Kuala Lumpur
Singapore
Yangon
Bandung
Hanoi
Surabaya
Taichung
Kaohsiung
Medan|-|}...
to JavaJava is an island of Indonesia and the site of its capital city, Jakarta. Once the centre of powerful Hindu-Buddhist kingdoms, Islamic sultanates, and the core of the colonial Dutch East Indies, Java now plays a dominant role in the economic and political life of Indonesia...
and BaliBali is an Indonesian island located at the westernmost of the Lesser Sunda Islands, lying between Java to the west and Lombok to the east. It is one of the country's 33 provinces with the provincial capital at Denpasar towards the south of the island....
. It formerly bred in the FaroesThe Faroe Islands, sometimes Faeroe Islands, Faroe, or Faeroes are an island group situated between the Norwegian Sea and the North Atlantic Ocean, approximately halfway between Scotland and Iceland...
, MaltaMalta , officially the Republic of Malta , is a densely populated developed European country in the European Union. The Southern European island nation is an archipelago that includes the inhabited islands of Malta, Gozo and Comino, along with a number of smaller, uninhabited islands...
and GozoGozo is an island of the Maltese archipelago in the Mediterranean Sea. The island is part of the Southern European country of Malta; after the island of Malta itself, it is the second-largest island in the archipelago...
. In South Asia it is found mainly in the temperate zone. It is sedentary over most of its extensive range, but northernmost breeding populations migrateBird migration is the regular seasonal journey undertaken by many species of birds. Bird movements include those made in response to changes in food availability, habitat or weather. These however are usually irregular or in only one direction and are termed variously as nomadism, invasions,...
south for the winter, and small numbers leave southern Europe for North Africa and the Middle East. The eastern subspecies P. m. dilutus reaches coastal Pakistan in winter and thousands of birds of this race move through eastern China in autumn.
The Tree Sparrow has been introducedAn introduced, alien, exotic, non-indigenous, or non-native species, or simply an introduction, is a species living outside its native distributional range, which has arrived there by human activity, either deliberate or accidental...
outside its native range, but has not always become established, possibly due to competition with the House Sparrow. It was introduced successfully to SardiniaSardinia is the second-largest island in the Mediterranean Sea . The area of Sardinia is . The nearest land masses to the island are the French island of Corsica, the Italian Peninsula, Tunisia, and the Spanish Balearic Islands...
, eastern Indonesia, the PhilippinesThe Philippines officially known as the Republic of the Philippines, is a country in Southeast Asia with Manila as its capital city. It comprises 7,107 islands in the western Pacific Ocean....
and MicronesiaMicronesia is a subregion of Oceania, comprising hundreds of small islands in the western Pacific Ocean. It is distinct from Melanesia to the south, and Polynesia to the east. The Philippines and Indonesia lie to the west....
, but introductions to New ZealandNew Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses , and numerous smaller islands, most notably Stewart Island/Rakiura and the Chatham Islands. The indigenous Māori named New Zealand Aotearoa, commonly translated as The Land of the Long White Cloud...
and BermudaBermuda is a British overseas territory in the North Atlantic Ocean. Located off the east coast of the United States, it is situated around 1,770 kilometres northeast of Miami, Florida, and 1,350 kilometres south of Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada...
did not take root. Ship-carried birds colonised BorneoBorneo is the third largest island in the world and is located at the centre of Maritime Southeast Asia. Administratively, this island is divided among Indonesia , Malaysia and Brunei . Indonesians refer to the island as Kalimantan...
. This sparrow has occurred as a natural vagrantVagrancy is a phenomenon in biology whereby individual animals appear well outside their normal range; individual animals which exhibit vagrancy are known as vagrants. The term accidental is sometimes also used...
to GibraltarGibraltar is a self-governing British overseas territory located on the southern end of the Iberian Peninsula and Europe at the entrance of the Mediterranean overlooking the Strait of Gibraltar. The territory covers and shares a land border with Spain to the north...
, TunisiaTunisia , officially the Tunisian Republic , is a country located in North Africa. It is bordered by Algeria to the west and Libya to the southeast. Tunisia is located southwest of the island of Sicily and south of Sardinia. Its size is almost 165,000 km² with an estimated population of just...
, AlgeriaAlgeria , officially the People's Democratic Republic of Algeria, is a country located in North Africa. It is the largest country on the Mediterranean sea, the second largest on the African continent and the eleventh-largest country in the world in terms of land area.It is bordered by Tunisia in...
, EgyptEgypt , officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a country mainly in North Africa, with the Sinai Peninsula forming a land bridge in Western Asia...
IsraelIsrael officially the State of Israel , is a developed state in Western Asia located on the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea. It borders Lebanon in the north, Syria in the northeast, Jordan in the east, and Egypt on the southwest, and contains geographically diverse features within its...
and DubaiDubai is one of the seven emirates and the most populous state of the United Arab Emirates . It is located along the southern coast of the Persian Gulf on the Arabian Peninsula. The Dubai Municipality is sometimes called Dubai state to distinguish it from the emirate...
.
In North America, a population of about 15,000 birds has become established around St. LouisSt. Louis is an independent city in the U.S. state of Missouri. With an estimated population of 354,361 in 2008, it is the principal municipality of Greater St. Louis, population 2,866,517, the largest urban area in Missouri and sixteenth largest in the United States...
and neighbouring parts of Illinois and southeastern Iowa. These sparrows are descended from 12 birds imported from Germany and released in late April 1870 as part of a project to enhance the native North American avifauna. Within its limited US range, the Tree Sparrow has to compete with the House Sparrow in urban centres, and is therefore mainly found in parks, farms and rural woods. The American population is sometimes referred to as the "German Sparrow", to distinguish it from both the native American Tree Sparrow species and the much more widespread "English" House Sparrow.
In Australia, the Tree Sparrow is present in MelbourneMelbourne is the capital city and most populous city of the State of Victoria, and the second most populous city in Australia. The Melbourne city centre is the anchor of the larger geographical area and statistical division known as the Greater Melbourne metropolitan area – of which Melbourne is...
, towns in central and northern VictoriaVictoria is the second most populous state in Australia. Geographically smallest mainland state, Victoria is bordered by New South Wales to the north, South Australia to the west, and Tasmania to the south, across the Bass Strait. Victoria is the most densely populated state, with over 70% of...
and some centres in the RiverinaThe Riverina is an agricultural region of south-western New South Wales , Australia. The Riverina is distinguished from other Australian regions by the combination of flat plains, warm to hot climate and an ample supply of water for irrigation. This combination has allowed the Riverina to develop...
region of New South WalesNew South Wales is Australia's most populous state, located in the south-east of the country, north of Victoria, south of Queensland and east of South Australia...
. It is a prohibited species in Western AustraliaWestern Australia is a state of Australia, occupying the entire western third of the Australian continent. Australia's largest state and the second largest subnational entity in the world, it has 2.2 million inhabitants , 85% of whom live in the south-west corner of the state.The state's capital...
, where it often arrives on ships from Southeast Asia.
Despite its scientific name, Passer montanus, this is not typically a mountain species, and reaches only 700 m (2,300 ft) in SwitzerlandSwitzerland , officially the Swiss Confederation , is a federal republic consisting of 26 states named cantons, with Bern as the seat of the federal authorities...
, although it has bred at 1,700 m (5,600 ft) in the northern Caucasus and as high as 4,270 m (14,000 ft) in NepalNepal , officially the Federal Democratic Republic of Nepal, is a landlocked country in South Asia and the world's youngest republic. It is bordered to the north by the People's Republic of China, and to the south, east, and west by the Republic of India...
. In Europe, it is frequently found on coasts with cliffs, in empty buildings, in pollardedPollarding is a pruning system in which the tree is headed back every year. This pruning encourages lateral branches and is normally done two or three metres above ground level. The tree is allowed to regrow after the initial cutting, but once begun, pollarding requires regular maintenance by...
willows along slow water courses, or in open countryside with small isolated patches of woodland. The Tree Sparrow shows a strong preference for nest-sites near wetlandA wetland is an area of land whose soil is saturated with moisture either permanently or seasonally. Such areas may also be covered partially or completely by shallow pools of water. Wetlands include swamps, marshes, and bogs, among others. The water found in wetlands can be saltwater, freshwater,...
habitats, and avoids breeding on intensively managed mixed farmland.
When the Tree Sparrow and the larger House Sparrow occur in the same area, the House Sparrow breeds in urban areas while the smaller Tree Sparrow nests in the countryside. Where trees are in short supply, as in Mongolia, both species may utilise man-made structures as nest sites. The Tree Sparrow is rural in Europe, but is an urban bird in eastern Asia; in southern and central Asia, both Passer species may be found around towns and villages. In Australia, the Tree Sparrow is largely an urban bird, and it is the House Sparrow which utilises more natural habitats.
Breeding
The Tree Sparrow reaches breeding maturity within a year from hatching, and typically builds its nest in a cavity in an old tree or rock face. Some nests are not in holes as such, but are built among roots of overhanging gorseGorse, furze, furse or whin is a genus of about 20 species of spiny evergreen shrubs in the subfamily Faboideae of the pea family Fabaceae, native to western Europe and northwest Africa, with the majority of species in Iberia.Gorse is closely related to the brooms, and like them, has green stems...
or similar bush. Roof cavities in houses may be used, and in the tropics, the crown of a palm tree or the ceiling of a verandah can serve as a nest site. This species will breed in the disused domed nest of a MagpieThe European Magpie or Common Magpie is a resident breeding bird throughout Europe, much of Asia, and northwest Africa. It is one of several birds in the crow family named as magpies, and belongs to the Holarctic radiation of "monochrome" magpies.In Europe, "Magpie" is used by English speakers as...
, or an active or unused stick nest of a large bird such as the White StorkThe White Stork is a large wading bird in the stork family Ciconiidae, breeding in the warmer parts of Europe , northwest Africa, and southwest Asia...
, White-tailed EagleThe White-tailed Eagle , also known as the Sea Eagle, Erne , or White-tailed Sea-eagle, is a large bird of prey in the family Accipitridae which includes other raptors such as hawks, kites, and harriers...
, OspreyThe Osprey , sometimes known as the sea hawk, is a diurnal, fish-eating bird of prey. It is a large raptor, reaching 60 centimetres in length with a 1.8 metre wingspan...
, Black KiteThe Black Kite is a medium-sized bird of prey in the family Accipitridae, which also includes many other diurnal raptors such as eagles, buzzards and harriers....
or Grey HeronThe Grey Heron , is a wading bird of the heron family Ardeidae, native throughout temperate Europe and Asia and also parts of Africa. It is resident in the milder south and west, but many birds retreat in winter from the ice in colder regions...
. It will sometimes attempt to take over the nest of other birds that breed in holes or enclosed spaces, such as the Barn Swallow{{redirect|European swallow|the well-known plot element|Monty Python and the Holy Grail}}{{redirect|European swallow|the well-known plot element|Monty Python and the Holy Grail}}{{Taxobox| name = Barn Swallow| status = LC| status_ref =...
, House MartinThe House Martin , sometimes called the Northern House Martin or Common House Martin, is a migratory passerine bird of the swallow family which breeds in Europe, north Africa and temperate Asia; and winters in sub-Saharan Africa and tropical Asia...
, Sand MartinThe Sand Martin is a migratory passerine bird in the swallow family. It has a wide range in summer, embracing practically the whole of Europe and the Mediterranean countries, part of northern Asia and also North America. It winters in eastern and southern Africa, South America and South Asia...
or European Bee-eaterThe European Bee-eater, Merops apiaster, is a near passerine bird in the bee-eater family Meropidae. It breeds in southern Europe and in parts of north Africa and western Asia. It is strongly migratory, wintering in tropical Africa, India and Sri Lanka...
.
Pairs may breed in isolation or in loose colonies, and will readily use nest boxA nest box, nestbox or birdhouse) is a man-made box provided for animals to nest in. Nest boxes are most frequently utilized for wild and domesticated birds, but some mammal species may also use them.-Construction:...
es. In a Spanish study, boxes made from a mixture of wood and concrete (woodcrete) had a much higher occupancy rate than wooden boxes (76.5% versus 33.5%), and birds nesting in woodcrete sites had earlier clutches, a shorter incubation period and more breeding attempts per season. Clutch size and chick condition did not differ between nest box types, but reproductive success was higher in woodcrete, perhaps because the synthetic nests were 1.5 °C warmer than their wooden counterparts.
The male calls from near the nest site in spring to proclaim ownership and attract a mate. He may also carry nest material into the nest hole. The display and nest building is repeated in autumn. The preferred locations for the autumn display are old Tree Sparrow nests, particularly those where nestlings had hatched. Empty nest boxes, and sites used by House Sparrows or other hole nesting birds, such as tits, Pied FlycatchersThe Pied Flycatcher, Ficedula hypoleuca, is a small passerine bird in the Old World flycatcher family, one of the four species of Western Palearctic black-and-white flycatchers. It breeds in most of Europe and western Asia. It is migratory, wintering mainly in western Africa.This is a 12-13.5 cm...
or Common RedstartThe Common Redstart or just Redstart is a small passerine bird that was formerly classed as a member of the Thrush family , but is now more generally considered to be an Old World flycatcher ....
s, are rarely used for the autumn display.
The untidy nest is composed of hay, grass, woolWool is a fibrous protein derived from the specialized skin cells called follicles. The wool is taken from animals in the Caprinae family, principally sheep, but the hair of certain species of other mammals including: goats, llamas, and rabbits may also be called wool...
or other material and lined with featherFeathers are one of the epidermal growths that form the distinctive outer covering, or plumage, on birds. They are considered the most complex integumentary structures found in vertebrates. They are among the outstanding characteristics that distinguish the extant Aves from other living groups....
s, which improve the thermal insulation. The typical clutch is five or six eggsIn most birds and reptiles, an egg is the zygote, resulting from fertilization of the ovum. To enable incubation the egg is usually kept within a favourable temperature range as it nourishes and protects the growing embryo. When the embryo is adequately developed it breaks out of the egg in the...
(rarely more than four in Malaysia), white to pale grey and heavily marked with spots, small blotches, or speckling; they are 20 x 14 mm (0.8 x 0.6 in) in size and weigh 2.1 g (0.08 oz), of which 7% is shell. The eggs are incubated by both parents for 12–13 days before the altricialAltricial, meaning "requiring nourishment", refers to a pattern of growth and development in organisms which are incapable of moving around on their own soon after hatching or being born...
, naked chicks hatch, and a further 15–18 days elapse before they fledgeFledge is the stage in a young bird's life when the feathers and wing muscles are sufficiently developed for flight. It also describes the act of raising chicks to a fully grown state by the chick's parents...
. Two or three broods may be raised each year; birds breeding in colonies produce more eggs and fledglings from their first broods than solitary pairs, but the reverse is true for second and third clutches. Females which copulate frequently tend to lay more eggs and have a shorter incubation time, so within-pair mating may be an indicator of the pairs' reproductive ability. There is a significant level of promiscuity; in a Hungarian study, more than 9% of chicks were sired by extra-pair males, and 20% of the broods contained at least one extra-pair young.
Hybridisation between the Tree Sparrow and the House Sparrow has been recorded in many parts of the world with male hybrids tending to resemble the Tree Sparrow while females have more similarities with the House Sparrow. The population in the Eastern GhatsThe Eastern Ghats are a discontinuous range of mountains along India's eastern coast. The Eastern Ghats run from West Bengal state in the north, through Orissa and Andhra Pradesh to Tamil Nadu in the south. They are eroded and cut through by the four major rivers of southern India, the Godavari,...
of India, said to be introduced, may also hybridise with House Sparrows. On at least one occasion a mixed pair has resulted in fertile young. A wild hybridisation with the Spanish SparrowThe Spanish Sparrow Passer hispaniolensis, also known as the Willow Sparrow, is a species of sparrow closely related to the House Sparrow...
, P. hispaniolensis was recorded in Malta in 1975.
Feeding
The Tree Sparrow is a predominantly seed and grain eating bird which feeds on the ground in flocks, often with House Sparrows, finchThe true finches are passerine birds in the family Fringillidae. They are predominantly seed-eating songbirds. Most are native to Southern Hemisphere, but one subfamily is endemic to the Neotropics, one to the Hawaiian Islands, and one subfamily – monotypic at genus level – is found...
es or buntings. It eats weed seeds, such as chickweedsThe Caryophyllaceae, commonly called the pink family or carnation family, is a family of flowering plants. The species are dicotyledons included in the order Caryophyllales. It is a large family, with 88 genera and some 2,000 species....
and goosefootChenopodium is a genus of about 150 species of perennial or annual herbaceous flowering plants known as the goosefoots, which occur almost anywhere in the world. It is placed in the family Amaranthaceae in the APG II system; older classifications separate it and its relatives as Chenopodiaceae but...
, spilled grain, and it may also visit feeding stationsA birdfeeder, bird feeder,bird table, or tray feeder are devices placed out-of-doors to supply bird food to birds. The success of a bird feeder in attracting birds depends upon its placement and the kinds of seeds offered, as different species have different preferences.Most bird feeders supply...
, especially for peanutThe peanut, or groundnut , is a species in the legume family native to South America, Mexico and Central America. It is an annual herbaceous plant growing 30 to 50 cm tall...
s. It will also feed on invertebrateAn invertebrate is an animal without a vertebral column. The group includes 95% of all animal species — all animals except those in the Chordate subphylum Vertebrata ....
s, especially during the breeding season when the young are fed mainly on animal food; it takes insects, woodliceA woodlouse , is a crustacean with a rigid, segmented, long exoskeleton and fourteen jointed limbs...
, millipedeMillipedes, known as shongololos in South African English, are arthropods that have two pairs of legs per segment . Each segment that has two pairs of legs is a result of two single segments fused together as one...
s, centipedeCentipedes are arthropods belonging to the class Chilopoda and the Subphylum Myriapoda. They are elongated metameric animals with one pair of legs per body segment. A key trait uniting this group is a pair of venom claws or forcipules formed from a modified first appendage...
s, spiderSpiders are air-breathing chelicerate arthropods that have eight legs, and chelicerae modified into fangs that inject venom. They are the largest order of arachnids and rank seventh in total species diversity among all other groups of organisms...
s and harvestmenHarvestmen are eight-legged invertebrate animals belonging to the order Opiliones in the class Arachnida, in the subphylum Chelicerata of the phylum Arthropoda. , over 6,400 species of harvestmen have been discovered worldwide, although the real number of extant species may exceed 10,000...
.
Adults use a variety of wetlands when foraging for invertebrate prey to feed nestlings, and aquatic sites play a key role in providing adequate diversity and availability of suitable invertebrate prey to allow successful chick rearing throughout the long breeding season of this multi-brooded species. Large areas of formerly occupied farmland no longer provide these invertebrate resources due to the effects of intensive farmingIntensive farming or intensive agriculture is an agricultural production system characterized by the high inputs of capital, labour, or heavy usage of technologies such as pesticides and chemical fertilizers relative to land area....
, and the availability of supplementary seed food within 1 km (1,200 yd) of the nest-site does not influence nest-site choice, or affect the number of young raised.
In winter, seed resources are most likely to be a key limiting factor. At this time of year, individuals in a flock form linear dominance hierarchiesA dominance hierarchy is the organization of individuals in a group that occurs when competition for resources leads to aggression...
, but there is no strong relation between the size of the throat patch and position in that hierarchy. This is in contrast to the House Sparrow; in that species, fights to establish dominance are reduced by the display of the throat patch, the size of which acts as a signallingWithin evolutionary biology, signalling theory refers to a body of theoretical work examining communication between individuals. The central question is when organisms with conflicting interests should be expected to communicate "honestly"...
"badge" of fitnessFitness is a central concept in evolutionary theory. It describes the capability of an individual of certain genotype to reproduce, and usually is equal to the proportion of the individual's genes in all the genes of the next generation...
.
The risk of predation affects feeding strategies. A study showed increased distance between shelter and a food supply meant that birds visited a feeder in smaller flocks, spent less time on it and were more vigilant when far from shelter. Sparrows can feed as "producers", searching for food directly, or "scroungers", just joining other flock members who have already discovered food. Scrounging was 30% more likely at exposed feeding sites, although this is not due to increased anti-predator vigilance. A possible explanation is that riskier places are used by individuals with lower fat reserves.
Survival
Predators of the Tree Sparrow include a variety of accipiterThe genus Accipiter is a group of birds of prey in the family Accipitridae, many of which are named as goshawks and sparrowhawks.These birds are slender with short broad rounded wings and a long tail which helps them manoeuvre in flight. They have long legs and long sharp talons used to kill their...
s, falconA falcon is any species of raptor in the genus Falco. The word comes from their Latin name falco, related to Latin falx because of the shape of these birds' wings.-Overview:...
s and owlThe Owls are the order Strigiformes, comprising 200 birds of prey, species. Most are solitary, and nocturnal, with some exceptions . Owls hunt mostly small mammals, insects, and other birds, though a few species specialize in hunting fish. They are found in all regions of the Earth except...
s, such as the Sparrowhawk, Common KestrelThe Common Kestrel is a bird of prey species belonging to the kestrel group of the falcon family Falconidae. It is also known as the European Kestrel, Eurasian Kestrel, or Old World Kestrel. In Britain, where no other brown falcon occurs, it is generally just called "the kestrel".This species...
, Little OwlThe Little Owl is a bird which is resident in much of the temperate and warmer parts of Europe, Asia east to Korea, and north Africa. It is not native to Great Britain, but was first introduced in 1842, and is now naturalised there...
, and sometimes Long-eared OwlThe Long-eared Owl - Asio otus is a species of owl which breeds in Europe, Asia, and North America. This species is a part of the larger grouping of owls known as typical owls, family Strigidae, which contains most species of owl...
and White StorkThe White Stork is a large wading bird in the stork family Ciconiidae, breeding in the warmer parts of Europe , northwest Africa, and southwest Asia...
. It does not appear to be at an increased risk of predation during its autumn moult, despite having fewer flight feathers at that time. Nests may be raided by Eurasian Magpies, JaysThe Eurasian Jay is a species of bird occurring over a vast region from Western Europe and north-west Africa to the eastern seaboard of Asia and down into south-east Asia...
, Least WeaselThe Least Weasel, also known and the dwarf, pygmy, or mouse weasel is the smallest of all mammals of the order Carnivora...
s, rats, cats and constricting snakes such as the Horseshoe Whip SnakeThe Horseshoe Whip Snake is a species of snake in the Colubridae family.It is found in Algeria, Italy, Morocco, Portugal, Spain, and Tunisia....
.
Many species of birdliceBird louse refers to any chewing louse which parasitizes birds. Recent reclassification has found that bird lice belong to two suborders, Amblycera and Ischnocera, although some members of these suborders do not parasitize birds and are therefore not bird lice.Bird lice may feed on feathers,...
are present on the birds and in their nests, and mites of the genus Knemidocoptes have been known to infest populations, resulting in lesions on the legs and toes. Parasitisation of nestlings by ProtocalliphoraProtocalliphora or Bird blowflies are a blow fly genus containing many species which are obligate parasites of birds. The larvae suck the blood of nestlings and are found in the nests of birds...
blow-flyBlow-flies are insects in the Order Diptera, family Calliphoridae...
larvae is a significant factor in nestling mortality. Egg size does not influence nestling mortality, but chicks from large eggs grow faster.
Tree Sparrows are also subject to bacterial and viral infections. Bacteria have been shown to be an important factor in the failure of eggs to hatch and in nestling mortality, and mass deaths due to SalmonellaSalmonella is a genus of rod-shaped, Gram-negative, non-spore forming, predominantly motile enterobacteria with diameters around 0.7 to 1.5 µm, lengths from 2 to 5 µm, and flagella which project in all directions...
infection have been noted in Japan. Avian malariaAvian malaria is a parasitic disease affecting birds.-Etiology:Avian malaria is most notably caused by Plasmodium relictum, a protist that infects birds in tropical regions...
parasites have been found in the blood of many populations, and birds in China were found to harbour a strain of H5N1 that was highly virulent to chickens.
The immune response of Tree Sparrows is less robust than that of the House Sparrow and has been proposed as a factor in the greater invasive potential of the latter. The House Sparrows and Tree Sparrow are the most frequent victims of roadkillRoadkill is an animal or animals that have been struck and killed by motor vehicles. Mammals are the animals most likely to be recorded as roadkill...
on the roads of Central, Eastern and Southern Europe. The maximum recorded age is 13.1 years, but three years is a typical lifespan.
Status
The Tree Sparrow has a large, currently unquantified range; its world population is also unknown, but includes an estimated 52–96 million individuals in Europe. Although population trends have not been evaluated, the species is not believed to approach the thresholds for the population decline criterion of the IUCN Red ListThe IUCN Red List of Threatened Species , founded in 1948, is the world's most comprehensive inventory of the global conservation status of plant and animal species. The International Union for the Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources is the world's main authority on the conservation...
(that is, declining more than 30% in ten years or three generations). For these reasons, the species' conservation statusThe conservation status of a species is an indicator of the likelihood of that species remaining extant either in the present day or the near future...
is evaluated at the global level as "least concern".
Although the Tree Sparrow has been expanding its range in FennoscandiaFennoscandia and Fenno-Scandinavia are geographic and geological terms used to describe the Scandinavian Peninsula, the Kola Peninsula, Karelia and Finland. Geologically, the term also alludes to the underlying Fennoscandian Shield of Norway, Sweden, Finland, and northern Denmark, which is the...
and eastern Europe, populations have been declining in much of western Europe, a trend reflected in other farmland birds such as the SkylarkThe Skylark is a small passerine bird species. This lark breeds across most of Europe and Asia and in the mountains of north Africa. It is mainly resident in the west of its range, but eastern populations are more migratory, moving further south in winter. Even in the milder west of its range,...
, Corn BuntingThe Corn Bunting, Miliaria calandra, is a passerine bird in the bunting family Emberizidae, a group now separated by most modern authors from the finches, Fringillidae...
and Northern LapwingThe Northern Lapwing , also known as the Peewit, Green Plover or just Lapwing, is a bird in the plover family. It is common through temperate Eurasia....
. From 1980 to 2003, common farmland bird numbers fell by 28%. The collapse in populations seems to have been particularly severe in Great Britain, where there was a 95% decline between 1970 and 1998, and Ireland, which retains only 1,000–1,500 pairs. Breeding performance has improved substantially as population sizes have decreased, suggesting that decreases in productivity were not responsible for the decline and that survival was the critical factor. The large decline in Tree Sparrow numbers is probably the result of agricultural intensification and specialisation, particularly the increased use of herbicides and a trend towards autumn-sown crops (at the expense of spring-sown crops that produce stubble fields in winter). The change from mixed to specialised farming and the increased use of insecticides has reduced the amount of insect food available for nestlings.
Relationships with humans
The Tree Sparrow is seen as a pest in some areas. In Australia, it damages many cereal and fruit crops and spoils cereal crops, animal feed and stored grain with its droppings. QuarantineQuarantine is voluntary or compulsory isolation, typically to contain the spread of something considered dangerous, often but not always disease...
rules prohibit the transport of this species into Western Australia.
Chairman Mao ZedongMao Zedong was a Chinese revolutionary, political theorist and Communist leader. He led the People's Republic of China from its establishment in 1949 until his death in 1976...
of China attempted in April 1958 to reduce crop damage by Tree Sparrows, estimated at 4.5 kg (9.9 lb) of grain per bird each year, by mobilising three million people and many scarecrows to drive the birds to death by exhaustion. Although initially successful, the "great sparrow campaignthumb|right|250px|At the direction of [[Mao Zedong|Chairman Mao]], sparrows were killed by the peasants, causing a major [[ecological]] imbalance in the environment...
" had overlooked the numbers of locusts and other insect pests consumed by the birds, and crop yields fell, exacerbating a famine which led to the deaths of 30 million people between 1959 and 1961. The Tree Sparrow's consumption of insects has led to its use in agriculture to control fruit tree pests and the common asparagus beetleThe common asparagus beetle is an important pest of asparagus crops both in Europe and in North America. Asparagus is its only food plant. The beetle is about half a centimeter long, metallic blue-black in color with cream or yellow spots on its red-bordered elytra...
, Crioceris aspergi.
The Tree Sparrow has long been depicted in Chinese and Japanese art, often on a plant spray or in a flying flock, and representations by oriental artists including Hiroshigewas a Japanese ukiyo-e artist, and one of the last great artists in that tradition. He was also referred to as Andō Hiroshige and by the art name of Ichiyūsai Hiroshige .-Early life:...
have featured on the postage stamps of Antigua and BarbudaAntigua and Barbuda is an island nation located on the eastern boundary of the Caribbean Sea with the Atlantic Ocean. It consists of two major islands Antigua and Barbuda and a number of smaller islets...
, Central African RepublicThe Central African Republic , is a landlocked country in Central Africa...
, China and The GambiaThe Gambia , commonly known as Gambia, is a country in Western Africa. The Gambia is the smallest country on mainland Africa, bordered to the north, east, and south by Senegal, and has a small coast on the Atlantic Ocean in the west.Its borders roughly correspond to the path of the Gambia River,...
. More straightforward illustrations were used on the stamps of BelarusBelarus is a landlocked country in Eastern Europe, bordered by Russia to the north and east, Ukraine to the south, Poland to the west, and Lithuania and Latvia to the north. Its capital is Minsk; other major cities include Brest, Grodno , Gomel , Mahilyow and Vitebsk...
, BelgiumThe Kingdom of Belgium is a country in northwest Europe. It is a founding member of the European Union and hosts its headquarters, as well as those of other major international organizations, including NATO...
, CambodiaThe Kingdom of Cambodia , formerly known as Kampuchea , is a country in South East Asia with a population of over 14 million people. The kingdom's capital and largest city is Phnom Penh...
, EstoniaEstonia , officially the Republic of Estonia , is a country in Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by the Gulf of Finland, to the west by the Baltic Sea, to the south by Latvia , and to the east by the Russian Federation...
and TaiwanTaiwan , also known as Formosa , is the largest island of the Republic of China in East Asia. Taiwan is located east of the Taiwan Strait, off the southeastern coast of mainland China...
. The fluttering of the bird gave rise to a traditional Japanese dance, the Suzume Odori, which was depicted by artists such as Hokusaiwas a Japanese artist, ukiyo-e painter and printmaker of the Edo period. In his time, he was Japan's leading expert on Chinese painting. Born in Edo , Hokusai is best-known as author of the woodblock print series which includes the iconic and internationally recognized print, The Great Wave off...
.
In the PhilippinesThe Philippines officially known as the Republic of the Philippines, is a country in Southeast Asia with Manila as its capital city. It comprises 7,107 islands in the western Pacific Ocean....
, where it is known as maya, the Tree Sparrow is the most common bird in the cities, and many urban Filipinos consider that it is the national bird. The former national bird of the Philippines (it has been the Philippine EagleThe Philippine Eagle, Pithecophaga jefferyi, also known as the Great Philippine Eagle or Monkey-eating Eagle, is among the tallest, rarest, largest and most powerful birds in the world. A bird of prey belonging to the family Accipitridae, it is also known as "Haribon" or "Haring Ibon," which means...
since 1995) was actually the Black-headed MuniaThe Black-headed Munia, Lonchura atricapilla also known as Chestnut Munia, is a small passerine bird...
, another species also known as maya.
External links
{{Wikispecies|Passer montanus}}
{{Commonscat|Passer montanus}}
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