<- Back To Species Index

Ancestor: Digit Sparrow

Size: 15 cm

Dietary Needs: Seeds make up a large part of their diet, and they especially like spruce nuts. These birds will make a store of food, usually in an old nest though sometimes in a hole in a tree or under a rock. Sometimes they will steal a store of food from another animal. Other foods they eat include grains, berries and insects.

Life Cycle: The male and female can be difficult to tell apart especially in dim lighting. The difference is more apparent to the birds who can see ultraviolet reflective accents in the white sections of the colouration. That, and behaviours such as song and dance, are more important for determining the male from the female than in the ancestor species.

Reproduction only takes place in spring and summer. A mating pair will usually stick together for years, but split-ups and deaths can occur, in which case next-best suitors will quickly muscle in. Usually a mating pair only produces 1 clutch of eggs in a year, but on good years with an early start they might manage to raise the chicks of two separate egg layings. They lay around 8-12 eggs at a time, but a couple of "runt" chicks usually die early to attacks from the fitter ones, and many are lost to predators or exposure after fledging.

Other: They are thickly insulated with downy feathers underneath their flatter, more waterproof feathers. They will often puff up their feathers. This increases the space between their downy feathers, allowing heat to be trapped. When puffed up they can look very round or fat.