|
The chestnut sparrow (''Passer eminibey'') is a species of passerine bird in the sparrow family Passeridae. It is the smallest member of the sparrow family, at about long. The breeding male has deep chestnut plumage and the female and juvenile are duller in appearance. Like its closest relatives in the genus ''Passer'', the Arabian golden sparrow and the Sudan golden sparrow, it is gregarious, and is found in arid areas. Ranging through the east of Africa from Darfur to Tanzania, it is found in dry savanna, papyrus swamps, and near human habitation. Adults and juveniles both feed mostly on grass seeds, and fly in flocks, often with other species of bird, to find food. It nests in trees, building its own domed nests, and also usurping the more elaborate nests of weavers. ==Description== Like the other members of the sparrow family, the chestnut sparrow is a small, chunky songbird with a thick bill suited to its diet of seeds. At in length, it is the smallest member of the sparrow family. It weighs between and .〔 Wing length ranges from in males and from in females. The tail, bill, and tarsus lengths are about , , and respectively.〔 The plumage of the breeding male is mostly a deep shade of chestnut in colour with black colouration on the face, wings, and tail. The chestnut colour is used descriptively in the common name. The breeding male is not easily confused with any other birds except the chestnut weaver, which is substantially larger and has white on its wings. The breeding male's legs and feet are horn (pale grey) in colour.〔 The non-breeding male chestnut sparrow has white flecking on the upperparts, and much of its plumage is buff or whitish with chestnut crescent markings, until the bright chestnut of the breeding plumage is exposed by wear. The non-breeding male's bill fades to a dusky-tipped horn, similar to that of females, but without dusky tones on the cutting edge of the mandible (lower portion of beak).〔 Females have the same plumage pattern as males, though with somewhat duller colouration.〔 The female has a grey head; buff supercilium, chin, and throat; black and warm brown upperparts; and off-white underparts. The bill of the female is pale yellow with the tip and cutting edge of mandible dusky. Juveniles are dull grey with a brown back, a pale yellow supercilium, and a pale horn bill.〔 Females and juveniles have hints of chestnut on their supercilium, shoulders, and throat, by which they may be distinguished from other sparrows, such as the Kenya sparrow and the other rufous sparrows, which are common in much of the chestnut sparrow's range; or the house sparrow, which also occurs in parts of its range. The basic call of the chestnut sparrow is a subdued chirp, with two recorded variations: a scolding threat call, rendered ''chrrrrit'' or ''chrrrrreeeerrrrrrrr'' and a ''chew chew'' flight call. Displaying males give a high twittering trill, rendered as ''tchiweeza tchiweeza tchi-tchi-tchi-tchi- see-see-see-seeichi''.〔〔 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「chestnut sparrow」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
|