Delta Grass Sparrow
Palupasser sp.
Ancestor: Domesticus digitus (Digit Sparrow)
Temporal Range:
Evolved: 2 Myh
Extinct: Not yet
Geographical Range:
Location: Exclusive to East Catland where they evolved. Found at the South of the continent in plains environments usually with lots of grass.
Viable Habitat: Grassy and shrubby plains and other open spaces with plenty of long, thick grasses.
Size: Around 28 cm beak to tail
Dietary Needs: A large constituent of the adult diet is grain, but this is not available in large amounts at all times of year in their range. So they also eat seeds (even relatively large ones by crushing them open with their robust beak), grass-dwelling invertebrates and opportunistically prey upon small mice, lizards and bird eggs.
Life Cycle: In the spring males demonstrate their fitness by jumping and fluttering around, making loud shrill chirps and puffing up their feathers so that the bluish silver dots dazzle the female. Females also need to show their fitness to be chosen by males, but the male is more loud and proactive about it. Females are the ones that select a nesting place and begin work on it even before a mate is selected, often in a tree but sometimes in a low shrub or in the grass. When it comes to competition for a potential mate fights can break out, but most of the competition is non-contact visual and noise.
They typically produce 2 sets of offspring a year but can sometimes manage 3. However nests have a high rate of destruction due to being discovered by predators. There is high competition for the best nesting places and sometimes, somewhere less ideal will have to do. To compensate somewhat, they have a higher life expectancy than their ancestors once they reach adulthood, going over 20 years so that they can have more offspring overall.
Other: Physically agile and flexible, can hang on to thin grass stalks and balance on them or comfortably hang upside down to eat. Smaller species are better at this than the larger species, but the largest species is still light enough to get around on thin stalks and branches easily.
They flock in small groups of around 15 or so. With all keeping lookout each individual is safer from predator attack than if they were alone. They nest this way too. The groups don't usually get larger than this and if they do, then the youngest, weakest or sickest (lowest in fitness status) are driven out as they become stressed when there is too much crowding and competition when looking for food.
They have varied soft, almost inaudible tweeting sounds that they use just to communicate with each other. They also have a sqawking, scratching sound when alarmed. Males also have a loud "cry" they use when competing for a female.