Sparrow Kamenny (Lat. Petronia Petronia). The stone sparrow got its name because of the way of life-sets mainly in stone buildings or rocky cracks. The bird belongs to the family of sparrows and is significantly different from the house sparrow. It has small sizes, a characteristic voice and distinctive color of the feathers.
What the birds and their behavior look like
The body length of the stone sparrow reaches no more than 14 cm. Wingspan-28-32 cm. The plumage has a grayish-brown tint with motley dark spots. The external characteristics of this subspecies are similar to the female house sparrow. White-cream eyebrows and stripes are visible on the bird’s head.
The bird has a square tail, at the tips of the steering feathers there are oval white spots. On the chest of a stone sparrow, a lemon-yellow spot, in males it stands out stronger. There is no sexual dimorphism (the difference between males and females).
There are white stripes on the tail on the sides. Females and males are practically no different in appearance. A distinctive feature of the male is a large black spot located on the goiter, chin, throat and upper chest. Also the head of males is covered with dark gray color.
As a rule, birds are formed in small flocks, they can live one by one or meet in pairs. They walk well on the rocky surfaces, fly confidently, quickly waving their wings, but their trajectory is uneven. Birds feel good on land move and take off when they feel the danger.
In the flight, the wings of the feathered turn around and visually seem long.
Voice features
Birds tend to communicate with voice signals resembling “meowing”. The sounds that make birds are not like the voice of ordinary sparrows it is more creaky and long. They tend to publish not only short, but also lingering individual sounds, instead of the song, repeated series of urges are used.
Feathered lifestyle
Birds are often kept in pairs or small flocks. In places of nesting, as a rule, small colonies are formed. Birds are characterized by a settlement in places where abandoned stone or clay buildings are present, ruins.
They equip nests in niches and voids of rocks, scree and cliffs, also in hollows and other structures. Sparrows equip dwellings from materials such as grass, plant fibers, feathers, wool and fluff. Make the nest loose and round.
Distribution and habitat
Lives in the mountains and foothills of North Africa, Southern Europe, the Middle East, the Caucasus, Central and Central Asia.
Feathered are found in arid stony deserts, where individual trees and shrubs grow. Set up dwellings in the mountains, climbing at a height of more than 2000 m. You can see this type of sparrow in dry and warm areas with a good view of landscapes, in olive groves and plantings of vineyards.
What birds eat
These are birds unpretentious in food, since they freely feed on the remnants of products after a person. They also select crumbs and grains of various crops, eat worms and insects. Featins are not very afraid of people, because they can steal something from the table, but most often this is due to a lack of food.
In the winter, a sparrow is difficult to find food, especially when winter is cold and snowy. Because of this, many birds die.
Stone sparrows not greedy birds ready to share food with relatives. If they get unfamiliar food, most likely they will not eat it.
Reproduction
This is a polygamous bird having the features of a fluttering flight. In the male period, up to 4 females may account for one male. In the middle of spring, stone sparrows begin to build their dwellings, making it loose. The stems of cereal crops and various thin branches are used as a building material, the hair or hair of animals, fluff and plant fibers are covered at the bottom.
At a time, the female can bring no more than 7 eggs. The shell has a characteristic beige color with motley interspersed.
The female plants offspring for about two weeks. The chicks after birth are born helpless they have no plumage, and they see nothing. After the birth of the chicks, the parent feeds them insects. Training for flights lasts about two weeks. Three weeks later, young animals become on the wing and goes into independent swimming, leaving the nest.
Who is dangerous for stone sparrows
Birds have a large number of natural enemies. Due to their small sizes, they often become easy prey for stray cats, re-healers. At night, owls are hunting for birds.
Hawk-renegade-enemy of a stone sparrow
Interesting Facts
It is known that the weight of an adult sparrow does not exceed 35 g. This type of birds is included in the squad of sparrows, in which there are about 5,000 species of birds. The largest is a raven, the smallest is the Queen.
A few more interesting facts:
Stone sparrow sedentary and mowing type dedicated to rocky landscapes. Birds tend to form dense nesting colonies, settle in rocky buildings and build nests in the voids under the stones. These are birds that can be tamed by a person.
