They might look a little like their relatives, but that’s where the similarities end, writes Dominic Couzens
Whenever anybody talks about Tree Sparrows, there is always an elephant in the room – the House Sparrow. The Tree Sparrow tends to be talked about in reference to its commoner relative, and compared and contrasted, rather than being appreciated for its own sake. So, for the purposes of this article, let’s agree something – no more mention of relatives.
It’s late autumn, and you might think that Tree Sparrows are settling in to concentrate on survival during the tough months of the year. But you’d be wrong. It is, in fact, the main pairing up season. This is mainly because, after the summer, young birds join colonies as new recruits, and during the autumn all members assert rights to a nest site. The established adults, which usually pair for life, defend their previously occupied nests, while young birds attempt to find unoccupied holes (which are usually in trees, but could be other cavities or nest-boxes) and build their own nests. Every morning they will chirp loudly and add nest material, and this can carry on throughout the winter until February. By April, everyone knows where they are, and breeding can begin.
SPECIES FACTFILE
Scientific name: Passer montanus
Length: 14cm
Wingspan: 20-22cm
UK numbers: 200,000 pairs
Habitat: Farmland, open country with trees and/or hedges, certain rural gardens etc
Diet: Seeds, but also insects etc during the breeding season
That’s the theory, anyway. In reality, Tree Sparrows are very short-lived birds and rarely survive for more than two breeding seasons. Mortality is very high and, if the worst happens, Tree Sparrows don’t stand on ceremony. If a partner dies, either sex will immediately chirp outside the nest to advertise for a replacement mate, and re-pairing happens almost immediately. It seems that, in every population, there are unpaired birds floating around waiting for this very opportunity.
On an average autumn and winter day, then, a Tree Sparrow will usually faff about with nest material and chirp for a while at first light before joining in the business of the daylight hours, that of feeding.
Tree Sparrows mainly feed on grass seeds and small seeds of various wayside weeds. In winter, they are almost exclusively vegetar
