Hive Stock Images: House Sparrow (Passer Domesticus)

From fierce...

to cute.

Fluffy sparrow is fluffy!

The sparrows are so fluffy I could die! Sad fact is that they're fluffy because it was cold. -17°C to be exact. And it was also windy so perhaps felt like -27°C. Poor sparrows.

When it was really cold the sparrows didn't eat the grease balls at all, mainly because the balls were frozen, obviously. They had to change to the loose seeds in the feeding stations, meaning the former juice boxes.

I'm actually not hundred percent sure if all of the sparrows that visit my balcony are house sparrows, there are two other similar lookin sparrows that live in Finland, but these two I think are definitely house sparrows.

The other two sparrows are Eurasian tree sparrow and willow sparrow but the later one has a very distinctive chestnut crown and white cheeks and the Eurasian tree sparrow has black ear patch on each pure white cheek and male and female look alike.

The house sparrow male on the other hand has a dark grey crown and grey cheeks and females and young males have a greyish white underside and brownish grey top side. Willow sparrow females are, like house sparrow females, greyish brownish but more boldly marked.

There are of course other distinctive marks too in the house sparrows plumage but those are the things I've looked for as they are the easiest ones to spot.

But as I said, I can't be hundred percent sure, only pretty sure (95%) that all of the sparrows that I've managed to photograph, are house sparrows. Let me know if you know better!


Cold.	Really cold, one leg tucked in.

When the grease seed balls aren't frozen, sparrows are all over them. Immediately when it wasn't too cold anymore, most of the sparrows went for the grease balls and left the loose seeds be. And sometimes there are some proper fights going on. There are few sparrows that just do not get along and sometimes the other sparrow doesn't even get to look at the food because if it does, the bully sparrow drives the other one away. Or actually flies it away. Geez what quick dives and spitfire attacks I've seen!

With the exception of course that the sparrows do not explode in mid air.

Or collide with each other or the walls.

They don't even shoot seeds from their mouth which would be cool and fortunately they don't bomb their enemy sparrows with anything else either because that would make my balcony collateral damage. I am already occasionally cleaning their poo from the balcony floor, wouldn't want to wipe it from the walls too. So thank goodness they are not seagulls or fieldfares but sparrows.