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Sparrow


Sparrow
Photo Information
Copyright: Jacqueline Schnepp (Noisette) Gold Star Critiquer/Gold Note Writer [C: 1714 W: 4 N: 2351] (7821)
Genre: Animals
Medium: Color
Date Taken: 2010-08-31
Categories: Birds
Camera: Canon EOS 350D, 55-200mm f/4-5.6GED-IF AF-S DX VR Zoom N
Photo Version: Original Version
Date Submitted: 2010-10-07 13:54
Viewed: 4543
Points: 70
[Note Guidelines] Photographer's Note
Hello All
another shot from park Sainte-Croix, there are a lot of birds in this park, specially water birds, while there are a lot of small lakes, a great bird paradise, but also smaller birds like house sparrows, and there was not afraid at all

i think it's a female but i am not sure

The House Sparrow (Passer domesticus) is a species of passerine bird of the sparrow family Passeridae. It occurs naturally in most of Europe, the Mediterranean region, and much of Asia. It has also been intentionally or accidentally introduced to many parts of the world, making it the most widely distributed wild bird. It is strongly associated with human habitations, but it is not the only sparrow species found near houses. It is a small bird, with feathers mostly different shades of brown and grey

Description

The House Sparrow is a chunky bird, typically about 16 cm (6 in) long, ranging from 14 to 18 cm (5.5–7 in). It has a large rounded head, a short tail, and a stout bill. In weight, the House Sparrow generally ranges from 24 to 39.5 g (0.84–1.4 oz). Weight varies by sex, with females usually smaller than males. Younger birds are smaller, males are larger during the winter, and females larger during the breeding season. Between and within subspecies, there is further variation based on latitude, altitude, climate, and other environmental factors, under biological rules such as Bergmann's rule.

The plumage of the House Sparrow is mostly different shades of grey and brown. The sexes differ, with females and juveniles mostly buff, and the male marked with bold colours. The male is duller in fresh non-breeding plumage, with buff tips on many feathers. Wear and preening expose bright markings of brown and black, including a throat and chest patch, called a "bib" or a "badge". This patch is variable in width and general size, and some scientists have suggested that patches signal social status or fitness, a hypothesis which has led to a "veritable 'cottage industry'" of studies, which have only conclusively shown that patches increase in size with age. In breeding plumage, the male's crown is grey, and it is marked with black on its throat and beneath its crown. The cheeks and underparts are pale grey.

The mantle and upper back are a warm brown, broadly streaked with black, while the lower back, rump and uppertail coverts are a greyish-brown. The female has no black on head or throat, nor a grey crown and its upperparts are streaked with brown. The juvenile is deeper brown, and the white is replaced by buff; the beak is pink to dull yellow.
There is some variation in the twelve subspecies of House Sparrow. The subspecies are divided into two groups, the Oriental indicus group, and the Palaearctic domesticus group. Birds of the domesticus group have grey cheeks, while indicus group birds have white cheeks, as well as bright colouration on the crown, a smaller bill, and a longer black bib. The subspecies Passer domesticus tingitanus differs little from the nominate subspecies, except in the worn breeding plumage of the male, in which the head is speckled with black and underparts are paler. P. d. balearoibericus is slightly paler than the nominate but darker than P. d. bibilicus. P. d. bibilicus is paler than most subspecies, but has the grey cheeks of domesticus group birds. The similar P. d. persicus is paler and smaller, and P. d. niloticus is nearly identical but smaller. Of the less wide ranging indicus group subspecies, P. d. hyrcanus is larger than P. d. indicus, P. d. bactrianus is larger and paler, P. d. parkini is larger and darker with more black on the breast than any other subspecies, and P. d. hufufae is paler.

The House Sparrow can be confused with a number of other seed-eating birds, especially its relatives in the genus Passer. Many of these relatives are smaller, with an appearance that is neater or "cuter", as with the Dead Sea Sparrow. The dull-coloured female often can not be distinguished from other birds, and it is nearly identical to the females of the Spanish Sparrow and Italian Sparrow. The Eurasian Tree Sparrow is smaller and more slender with a chestnut crown and a black patch on each cheek. The male Spanish Sparrow and Italian Sparrow are distinguished by their chestnut crowns. The Sind Sparrow is smaller, with the male less black on the throat and the female usually having a distinct pale supercilium.

Voice

All of the House Sparrow's vocalisations are variations on its short and incessant chirping call. Transcribed as chirrup, tschilp, or philip, this note is made as a contact call by flocking or resting birds, or by males to proclaim nest ownership and invite pairing. In the breeding season this call becomes what is called an "ecstatic call", which is similar to a song, as it is uttered by the male at great speed. Young birds, especially in captivity, also give a true song, a warbling similar to that of the European Greenfinch. Aggressive male House Sparrows give a trilled version of their call, transcribed as "chur-chur-r-r-it-it-it-it". This call is also used by females in the breeding season, to establish dominance over males while displacing them to feed young or incubate eggs. The House Sparrow gives a nasal alarm call, the basic sound of which is transcribed as quer, and it gives a shrill "chree" call in great distress. Another House Sparrow vocalisation is what has been described as an "appeasement call", a soft quee given to inhibit aggression, usually by a mated pair. These vocalisations are not unique to the House Sparrow, but are shared with small variations by all sparrows.

Taxonomy

The House Sparrow is part of the sparrow genus Passer, which contains about 20 species, depending on the authority. Most species in the genus are between 11 and 16 cm (4–6 in) long, dull-coloured birds with short square tails and stubby conical beaks. Mitochondrial DNA suggest that speciation in Passer occurred during the Pleistocene and earlier, while other evidence suggests speciation occurred 25,000 to 15,000 years ago. Within Passer, the House Sparrow is part of the "Palearctic black-bibbed sparrows" group and a close relative of the Mediterranean "willow sparrows"

The bird's usual English and scientific names have the same meaning. The Latin word passer, like the English word "sparrow", is a term for small active birds, coming from a root word referring to speed. The Latin word domesticus means "belonging to the house", like the common name a reference to its association with humans. The House Sparrow was scientifically described by Carl Linnaeus in the 1758 edition of his Systema Naturae, as Fringilla domestica. Later the name Fringilla came to be used only for the Chaffinch and its relatives, and House Sparrow as placed in the genus Passer created by French zoologist Mathurin Jacques Brisson in 1760. The House Sparrow is called by a number of other names, including English Sparrow, chiefly in North America; and Indian Sparrow or Indian House Sparrow, for the birds of the Indian subcontinent and Central Asia. Dialectal names include sparr, sparrer, spadger, spadgick, and philip, mainly in southern England; spug and spuggy, mainly in northern England; spur and sprig, mainly in Scotland; and spatzie or spotsie in North America
siggi, boreocypriensis, rousettus, ramthakur, bahadir, Dis. Ac., eng55, haraprasan, oscarromulus, Adanac, Argus, cirano, goldyrs, anemone, Alex99, marhowie, KOMSIS, Hormon_Manyer, tuslaw, rommel, CeltickRanger, jusninasirun, maurydv, cicindela, valy67 has marked this note useful
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ThreadThread Starter Messages Updated
To anemone: Hello ozgurNoisette 1 10-11 14:06
To bahadir: hello BahadirNoisette 1 10-08 16:43
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Critiques [Translate]

  • Great 
  • siggi Gold Star Critiquer/Gold Star Workshop Editor/Gold Note Writer [C: 3097 W: 109 N: 12399] (52850)
  • [2010-10-07 14:07]

Hello Jaqueline.
Lovely capture of this Sparrow posing so nicely, great POV and DOF set against a blurred BG, nice colours and lighting too.Best regards Siggi

Merhaba sevgili arkadaşım Jacqueline,

Fonuyla nefis bir çekim olmuş. Güzelimiz de hakkaten güzel poz vermiş.
Detaylarından, renklere ve kompozisyonuna çok güzel bir kare olmuş.
Ellerine ve emeğine sağlık. İyi geceler sevgili arkadaşım.

Bayram

Ciao Jaqueline. Best compliments for the very good sharp and details for the cute friend.

Roberto

merhaba Jacqueline,
what a lovely capture of this beautiful sparrow.she gave to you a pretty pose. focus, POV/DOF and natural colors very nice. also composition and frame great. thanks for sharing. best regards
Ahmet

We are seeing less and less of these birds here in India, Jacqueline. It is said that in some mysterious way, they are abandoning urban human settlements. Believe me, I hardly ever hear their chirruping in the neighbourhood -- something that we used to take for granted in the recent past.
This is a wonderful image of a female House Sparrow on the ground. The focus is spot on and the details and colours are perfect.
Regards.
Ram

Hello Jacqueline, wonderful shot of this sparrow with nice details.
TFS and regards,
Bahadır

  • Great 
  • Heaven Gold Star Critiquer/Gold Star Workshop Editor/Gold Note Writer [C: 996 W: 123 N: 2341] (7912)
  • [2010-10-07 21:48]

Bonjour Jacqueline

Un "simple" moineau... mais toute une histoire! J'aime comme tu sais donner beaucoup d'attention à cet oiseau largement répandu dans nos contrées, et c'est vrai qu'il est... simplement beau.

Amitiés

Markus

Very pleasant capture of this ordinary Sparrow, Jaqui! I think you have chosen a great point of view here, so there is not destructive element in the frame and the colors are very natural indeed. Great dept of field, amazing detail and composition. There are some traces of Noise in the background, but seems that the light conditions demand the use of high ISO. However this is not a big deal I think. Thanks for sharing and for your earlier comments Jaqui! Have a great day!
Regards,
George Veltchev

Ciao Jacqueline, great capture of lovely bird in nice pose, splendid sharpness, fine deytails and wonderful natural colors, very well done my friend, ciao Silvio

  • Great 
  • eng55 Gold Star Critiquer/Silver Workshop Editor/Gold Note Writer [C: 1256 W: 42 N: 1976] (5892)
  • [2010-10-08 2:47]

Hi Jacqueline,
Very beautiful capture of this cute sparrow.Excellent POV,details and composition.I liked exposure and pose of bird also a lot.
Have a nice weekend!Thaks for sharing..

Hi Jacqueline,
A nice capture of this beautiful and cute sparrow. Very good composition and good sharp details. Thanks a lot for sharing.

Jacqueline,
I always find your notes most interesting; you write with detailed accuracy. Great work.

[I too may be wrong; you think this little sparrow is a female.]

I think it is a baby male sparrow. I have many of them in my backyard and they nest here every year. Immature males have those pronounced feathers on the back and later the head too gets changed. The female babies have less colour on their backs.

Anyway, this is a SUPERB image.
Regards,
Mario from Canada.

  • Great 
  • Adanac Gold Star Critiquer/Gold Note Writer [C: 1273 W: 1 N: 6188] (21378)
  • [2010-10-08 10:35]

Hello Jaqueline,
An extremely sharp image showing fine detail in this common birds plumage. You have also supplied us with great notes as well. Splendid posting Jaqueline, thank you.
Rick

  • Great 
  • PeterZ Gold Star Critiquer/Gold Star Workshop Editor/Gold Note Writer [C: 5137 W: 166 N: 13121] (49139)
  • [2010-10-08 10:39]

Excellent photo Jacqueline.
Great sharpness, details, low POV and composition. In the BG is a little bit noise, but not disturbing. Very beautiful natural colours.
Have a wonderful weekend,
Peter

  • Great 
  • Argus Gold Star Critiquer/Gold Star Workshop Editor/Gold Note Writer [C: 5038 W: 260 N: 15594] (50626)
  • [2010-10-09 12:28]

Good evening Jacqueline!
A fine capture of a female House Sparrow on the mud! The lateral low POV is excellent and shows her features with superb sharpness and natural colours against the muddy BG.
Thanks and enjoy the rest of your weekend,
Ivan

  • Great 
  • cirano Gold Star Critiquer/Gold Note Writer [C: 997 W: 0 N: 944] (13609)
  • [2010-10-09 13:30]

Hello Jacqueline,
What a lovely female housw sparrow,great capture with excellent sharpness,details and colors.Perfect POV.
TFS and regards,
Dûrzan

Hello Jacqueline,
How are you MF?
Certainly, this picture has an extra touch of drama, thanks to the land where the bird perches. Good job, really interesting. And with some underlying dynamics that provides the impression that the bird is in motion.
Regards, Have a nice sunday,
Jesús

A very nice shot of this bird, Jacqueline!
Well sen and well presented!
Cheers!
Goldy

Hi Jacqueline. Lovely catch of this beautiful sparrow. Great details and nice composition! Nice POV.
TFS. Kind regards,
Özgür

  • Great 
  • Alex99 Gold Star Critiquer/Gold Star Workshop Editor/Gold Note Writer [C: 4072 W: 133 N: 7096] (23735)
  • [2010-10-10 8:32]

Hi Jacqueline.
What a charming sparrow and wonderful picture. Despite the absence of sunlight details are superb and colours are very natural and nice. Ground is reproduced so nicely and all together main subject and surroundings create and scene. Well done and compliments.
Alexei.

Great details & natural color, the sparrow sure blends in with its surroundings here. Looks like a young one Jacqueline..
Well done & thanx for commenting on my bug :)

Hola Jacqueline

Una imagen muy agradable de esta pequeña ave mimetizada con el entorno.

Perfecta composición y nitidez.

Un saludo de Antonio

  • Great 
  • foozi Gold Star Critiquer/Gold Note Writer [C: 2791 W: 0 N: 6696] (25839)
  • [2010-10-11 6:55]

Hello Jacqueline,
such a lovely and cute bird well captured. Very lively details and excellent natural colours. Well camouflaged against the muddy background.

Regards,
Foozi

  • Great 
  • KOMSIS Gold Star Critiquer/Gold Note Writer [C: 820 W: 0 N: 2419] (10674)
  • [2010-10-12 0:26]

Bonjuor Jacqueline,
a cute little Sparrow ...
Despite the low light, detail and Colors are very good.
Best wishes,
Seyfi

Bonjour Jacqueline,
Pretty and cute image of a - as it seems like - young sparrow. Simple yet nice, even with more enhanced contrast the overall view should be even more pleasant. But the composition of the youngster against the mud is really good.
Tfs, best wishes, László

  • Great 
  • tuslaw Gold Star Critiquer/Gold Star Workshop Editor/Gold Note Writer [C: 2754 W: 282 N: 4931] (19883)
  • [2010-10-15 15:41]

Hello Jacqueline,
What a wonderful image of this little female House Sparrow. Looks like she was right up next to you posing so you could capture her best side. Excellent detail of her finely textured feathers showing beautiful natural coloration. Super work!! Very informative notes.
Ron

Hi Jaqueline,
A difficult image to capture which you have done extremely well.A small contrast variation and yet the sparrow is well defined and displaying all its characteristics in its natural envirnment.Well done and thanx for your critiques.
erwin...

  • Great 
  • uleko Gold Star Critiquer/Gold Star Workshop Editor/Gold Note Writer [C: 3396 W: 172 N: 3310] (10940)
  • [2010-10-20 9:27]

Hello Jacqueline,
A lovely clapture of this cute little House Sparrow, a species that is not as common as it used to be here. I like your low POV and the fine sharp details. Beautiful natural colours too. Very well done!
TFS and best wishes, Ulla

Hello Jaqueline,

I have been given an critique but it's gone?
For the second time.
Very cute image from this young little bird with good pov and sharpness.
Fine colours.

Gert

bonjour Jacqueline

elle est très très jolie cette photo en close-up de ce moineau
et cela rend aussi le moineau très beau et cute, excellent POV & DOF,
excellent focus netteté et détails, TFS

Asbed

Hi Jacqueline. This is such a wonderful little bird captured with fine exposure of the plumage. The shallow DoF makes the image stands out from the background. Nice close framing and thanks for sharing. Best regards - Jusni

Hallo Jacqueline,
une très belle capture de cette femmelle Passer domesticus, très bonne netteté avec un beau cadrage, couleurs belles et naturelles.
Merci et félicitations
Amicalement
Ciao Maurizio

Hello Jaqueline!
Not very colourful but still preatty and beautiful!
I like sharpness, composition and clarity :)
And the note... is very, very informative!!! :)
All the best from winter Lodz,
Radomir

  • Great 
  • valy67 Gold Star Critiquer/Gold Star Workshop Editor/Gold Note Writer [C: 1727 W: 59 N: 3060] (9219)
  • [2011-01-30 14:25]

Salut grand-mère ! :-)
Il est joli ton petit oiseau, c'est vrai qu'à St-Croix on a toujours l'occasion de voir pas mal d'animaux sauvages venus profiter des installations (et de la nourriture) !!! Excellents détails sur ce moineau dont le plumage se confond avec son environnement, jolie composition, joli POV. Félicitations !
Val

Hello Jacqueline,

I think I have quite a few of those around too..!
This little fellow is captured with fine details in the plumage, a fine pose and great natural colours...
Even if the colours of the bird matches the background the bird stands out well because of the selective DoF!

Greetings,
Pablo -

Très beau ce petit moineau . De belle couleurs.

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