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Ancestor: Blue Sparrow

Size: Largest: 65 cm from beak to tail, Smallest: 40 cm beak to tail.

Dietary Needs: In spring a large constituent of their diet is fresh young buds of leaves. They have a more powerful gizzard and periodically swallow stones to help them grind up this vegetative matter. They use bacterial fermentation  to break down the plant matter and release useful nutrients. For the rest of the year leaves are not a reliable food source. Most are too tough to eat, and then there are none in winter. So they will also eat grains, fruits, insects and their larvae. Chicks are raised on invertebrates.

Life Cycle: These birds have no aerial predators and few canopy-level predators, so without need to look out for each other they are not very social. Young males have their own small territory which they also use as a point from where to make their warbling calls. These calls attract the attention of females, who doesn't have a territory.

Whether or not she will prefer the male depends on not just his appearance, colours and condition, and not only on his calls and energy, but also the suitability of his territory for raising offspring together. Ideally it should be high off the ground, have plenty of foliage cover, not be occupied by troublesome companions like bees and of course not smell of predators. Coupling is for life, so they need to make impressions count.

They can sometimes raise two broods in a year, depending on the length of the productive season and how early they could start that year.

Other: The columpasseridae family all have some capacity to ferment vegetative matter in their gut. Silvaincola are the genus that have this ability to the greatest extent, particularly in spring when the softest vegetation is available to them. They are relatively safe in the canopy (although cats show up occasionally) so they can spend a lot of time just resting and digesting. They don't usually fly unless there is a great need.

Very cold tolerant birds that can withstand a harsh winter. They are not very heat tolerant.