Sparrow
Passer domesticus
Sparrows live so close to people that if a place has no sparrows at all, something there has changed.
| Size | 14–16 cm |
|---|---|
| Wingspan | 21–25 cm |
| Weight | 24–38 g |
| Diet | Seeds, bread crumbs; insects for chicks |
| Eggs | 4–5 |
| Where to see it | Almost every settlement; all year |
Telling males and females apart is easy. The male has a gray crown and a black bib. The female is brown all over, with a light stripe behind the eye.
Sparrows don't hang out alone. Always in flocks, always chirping. In the evenings they gather in a bush and make a huge racket. It may look like a fight, but they are actually looking for a safe place to sleep together.
My favorite habit of theirs is the dust bath. They dig a small hollow in dry soil and lie in it, flapping to get the dust into their feathers. That's how they get rid of the parasites in their feathers.
In recent years sparrows have declined in some big cities. Leaving a corner of the garden to wild plants and not closing off gaps in the roof helps them a lot.
To draw it in DrawBird
Follow the sparrow lesson step by step. If you are drawing a male, put a black patch on the throat and light gray on the cheeks. For a female, just make the whole bird brown.
Drawing lesson: How to draw a sparrow →
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