View allAll Photos Tagged learn
Learn more about the geology of the Puget Lowland here.
Learn more about glacial landforms in Washington here.
Learn more about Washington's lidar program here.
Learn how geologists in Washington State use lidar here.
View the original map (pdf) here.
Map text:
During the last ice advance and retreat (in the latest Pleistocene), an extension of the Cordilleran ice sheet, called the Puget lobe, covered the Puget Sound region (see location map).
The colored area of the map represents the approximate maximum extent of the Puget Lobe during this time period. During glacial maximum, the location of modern-day Seattle (near the center of this map) was beneath 3,000 feet of ice.
All of the land and waterways in this region were shaped, at least in part, by the glacial ice of the Puget lobe. Many large-scale glacial landforms are preserved in the landscape today. In this lidar*-derived map, landforms such as drumlins, kettles, eskers, and glacial stream channels can be seen. Examples of these and other landscape features are enlarged at bottom right.
Most of Washington’s population lives in this region—the glacial geology influences many aspects of daily life, including transportation, water supply systems, agriculture, and building regulations.
During the advance and retreat of the Puget lobe, drainages around the ice sheet were blocked, forming multiple proglacial lakes. The darker colors on this map indicate lower elevations, and show many of these valleys. The Stillaguamish, Snohomish, Snoqualmie, and Puyallup River valleys all once contained proglacial lakes. There are many remnants of these lakes left today, such as Lake Washington and Lake Sammamish, east of Seattle.
As the Puget lobe retreated, lake outflows, glacial meltwater, and glacial outburst flooding all contributed to dozens of channels that flowed southwest to the Chehalis River at the southwest corner of this map. Remnants of these channels can be seen along the eastern and southern edge of the colored area in the map. Present-day Lake Kapowsin and Ohop Lake both occupy one of these channels. Today, the Chehalis River flows through a wide valley that was largely sculpted by ice-age meltwater.
Drumlins - Drumlins (or fluted ridges) are geologic features where movement of the ice sheet smooths glacial sediment into elongated teardrop shapes. Drumlins align in the direction of the ice flow and are evident across most of the Puget Lowland.
Mima Mounds - Intriguing features called Mima Mounds are found on Mima Prairie and in several outwash channels in the southern part of this map. Composed of organic-rich, sandy soil, Mima Mounds on this map are only found on the most recent glacial outwash deposits. The origin of the mounds has been debated for decades and a consensus on their formation has not yet been agreed upon.
Kettles - Glacial kettles are depressions that form when a retreating glacier leaves a bit of ice behind which then becomes buried by sediment shed from glacial streams. When the block of ice melts, the sediment collapses, forming a kettle. Kettles can be dry or filled with water, depending on their depth and the level of groundwater in the area.
Eskers - Eskers are snake-shaped landforms that are often found near the glacier’s terminus. Eskers are formed when rivers that are underneath, on top of, or within a glacier, transport pebble- to cobble-sized gravel that is exposed once the glacier retreats. The resulting landform is a sinuous ridge of gravel that runs roughly parallel to the direction of ice flow.
Outwash Channels - Dozens of stream channels were created by glacial lake outflows, glacial meltwater streams, and glacial outburst floods. Today, many of the channels no longer transport water or have smaller streams occupying them than the streams that formed them.
Fault scarps - Sharp breaks in the fluted topography make it easy to identify geologically recent faults, such as this one called the Toe Jam Hill fault on Bainbridge Island west of Seattle, which is part of the Seattle fault zone.
Map by Daniel E. Coe, Washington Geological Survey, Washington State Department of Natural Resources.
You may use this image for any purpose, commercial or non-commercial, with or without modification, as long as you attribute us. For attribution please use ‘Image from the Washington Geological Survey (Washington State DNR)’ if it’s a direct reproduction, or ‘Image modified from the Washington Geological Survey (Washington State DNR)’ if there has been some modification.
For more information, see the linked Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike license.
You live you learn
You love you learn
You cry you learn
You lose you learn
You bleed you learn
You scream you learn
maraculio.2010 © All rights reserved
الملكة رانيا خلال لقاء مع فريق عمل مبادرة أنا أتعلم
جرش، الأردن/ 20 شباط 2018
Queen Rania meets with the team behind I Learn initiative
Jerash, Jordan/ 20 February 2018
© Royal Hashemite Court
Learn why intermittent fasting is better than traditional dieting for weight loss and health goals. Plus, get Eat Stop Eat book today for the new price of $10. - weightlossproductreviewz.blogspot.com/
these were found within 5 hens we butchered yesterday.
yes, they were fully formed.
i had a couple for lunch fried up with swiss chard.
quite the anatomy lesson let me tell ya.
for the kids and adults alike.
Learn why intermittent fasting is better than traditional dieting for weight loss and health goals. Plus, get Eat Stop Eat book today for the new price of $10. - weightlossproductreviewz.blogspot.com/
Lamborghini Gallardo PD-L800 Widebody Aerodynamic-Kit PRIOR-DESIGN
If you would like to learn more about this kit please visit our website: www.priordesignnorthamerica.com/lamborghini_gallardo_PD-L...
Follow us on Facebook: www.facebook.com/PriorDesignNorthAmerica
Follow us on Instagram: www.instagram.com/priordesign
Opening Kinder Surprise Eggs Learn A Word! Spelling Sports! Teaching Letters Kinder Joy Eggs Disney Collector! English for Toddlers Kids! youtu.be/5CM0CQF2-68 ➤SUBSCRIBE: goo.gl/nSZUWe Kinder Sorpresa, Kinder Joy, Kinder Überraschung, Kinder Ovo, Киндер Сюрприз, Kinderegg, Kinderüberraschung, Verrassingsei, Kinderschokolade, Kinderueberraschung, Kinderoverraskelse, Kinder Niespodzianka, Kinder-yllätys, Kinderägg, Kinder Meglepetés, Kinder Surpresa, & キンダーサプライズ. Learn, Laugh and Play with ABCDE Kids New Learn English with Surprise Eggs! Great for learning, spelling and identifying English! Join ABCDE Kids on an adventure of fun and discovery with Kinder Eggs, Play-Doh, rare Christmas goodies, exciting new toys from around the world and more! ABCDE Kids will also help you learn, sing, dance and play with surprise singalong songs, phonics fun and interactive games...just for you! ♥ THANKS FOR WATCHING MY VIDEO and PLEASE SUBSCRIBE ME ON YOUTUBE! ★PLEASE SUBSCRIBE!! : goo.gl/nSZUWe ➲FOLLOW ME ON GOOLE+: goo.gl/BwzWiE
“Learn to Study Readers, Book One” by Ernest horn and Grace Shields, who copyrighted in 1924. Published by Ginn and Co. Illustrated by Blanche Fisher Laite.
Open Space Technology is mainly attributed to the work of Harrison Owen
With higher ed, with faculty, with professional coaches, with the horses, with professional women, with change management practitioners and consultants, with clients, Open Space has many applications, OST
If you'd like to learn more about this agenda-less type process that is yet, quite organized, including a key theme, visit REVELN.com.
Deb continues her work as an| Org. Dev. Consultant, Facilitator | Executive Coach |with her own firm, REVELN Consulting.
Find out more about Deb via: www.REVELN.com and
my Facebook page: www.facebook.com/RevelnConsulting
as well as LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/dnrevel/
Deb Nystrom at REVELN Consulting
My LinkedIn post on horse-guided leadership development is here: www.linkedin.com/pulse/20141006170012-1467827-4-leadershi...
Learn practical digital slr camera tips including focus, exposure, flash and more from News Photographer Malinda Hartong, Hartong Digital Media llc.
To learn more about the Aquaculture in the Classroom program, or to refer a teacher or school, please contact Gina Russo at Gina.Russo@MyFWC.com.
I have to learn to enjoy the peace and quiet. I'm so used to the dysfunction that I don't know how to deal with the quiet. I really want to learn. because when I allow it to be quiet, it's nice. Shorty is such a good dog. He deserves better than me. I'm really glad he puts up with me.
...and shake it all about....
I thought I'd post a bit of whimsy today!
When I was younger and we used to dance this, we always called it the Hokey Coky. I see by the original music it is called the Hokey Pokey. I live and learn.
I think the cherub points a dainty toe as well.
Thank you so much for visiting, your comments and awards, xx
Thank you for using this photo on your site. We are happy that you like our work.
It will be a giant help for our free dyslexia project, if you make the image credit to PlusLexia.com.
Big thanks for your support!
Example: [Photo credit: PlusLexia.]
Photo taken at Amabala Camp.
the Local Kid posing, wid the bag hanging on shoulders.
Was too innocent and also shared some poetry wid me.
Kids are really Cute.
May Allah Bless Him and Let him learn and give him success. Ameen
צייר אמן ישראלי יוצר היוצר יוצרים היוצרים והיוצר והיוצרים ראליסטי רפי פרץ ראליסטים הראליסטי הראליסטים הריאליסטים הריאליסטי ריאליסטי פיגורטיבי הפיגורטיבי פיגורטיבית הפיגורטובית רישום רישומים הרישום הרישומים ברישום ברישומים לרישום לרישומים רשם רשמים לרשם לרשמים ורישום ורישומים הרישומים והרישומים שרבוט שרבוטים השרבוט השרבוטים כתם קו קווים הקווים הכתמים בכתם בכתמים בקווים בקו דיו עפרון בדיו בעפרון בעפרונות בעיפרון בעיפרונות עיפרון הדיו העפרון העיפרון הדיו אקספרסיבי האקספרסיבי אקספרסיביות אקספרסיבית האקספרסיבית באקספרסיביות אקספרסיה רגש ברגש ברגשות הרגשות נייר ניירות בנייר בניירות הנייר הניירות דיוקן הדיוקן הדיוקנאות בדיוקן ודיוקן מדיוקן לדיוקן דיוקנאות ודיוקנאות מדיוקנאות לדיוקנאות מדיוקנאות פנים הפנים פני עכשווי מודרני הצייר הישראלי העכשווי המודרני אמנות ישראלית עכשווית מודרנית האמנות הישראלית העכשווית המודרנית אומנות העכשוויות הישראליות העכשוויות המודרניות ציור ציורים הציור הציורים וציור וציורים לציור לציורים מציור מציורים מצייר מציירים ומצייר ומציירים שמצייר שמציירים של עם
האמן האמנים האומנים לאמנים לאומנים והאומנים ציירים הציירים והציירים לציירים מהציירים מהאמנים אומנות האמנות באמנות לאמנות ואמנות באומנות לאומנות והאומנות אמנותי האמנות האומנותי האומנות תערוכה תערוכות התערוכה התערוכות הגלריה הגלריות בגלריה בגלריות והגלריה והגלריות מהגלריה מהגלריות מהתערוכה מהתערוכות חדש חדשני החדש החדשני חדשנית החדשנית מקורי המקורי המקורית מקורית מיוחד המיוחד המיוחדים מיוחדים המפורסמים המפורסם מפורסם מפורסמים בישראל ישראל וישראל בציורי ציורי וציורי לציורי מציורי בדים חזקים עזים החזקים העזים לבית לסלון למשרד בית סלון משרד לבתים למשרדים משרדים בתים למכירה מכירה המכירה מכירות מוכר המוכר קונה הקונה קונים הקונים בקנייה במכירה פומבית הפומבית לרכוש רכוש ברכישה ישירה הישראליים ישראליים העכשוויים עכשוויים מודרניים המודרניים ישראלים עכשווים מודרנים פלסטי פלסטית הפלסטית הפלסטי החזותי החזותית חזותית חזותי ויזואלית הויזואלית הוויזואלית הוויזואלי ויזואלי וויזואלי הוויזואלי הויזואלי
portrait drawing in line ink on paper expressive portraits drawings face sketch contemporary sketches man had black and white artwork study learn how to draw in progress for beginner desenho de retrato em tinta de linha em retratos expressivos em papel desenhos desenho de rosto esboços contemporâneos homem tinha estudo de arte em preto e branco aprender a desenhar em andamento para iniciantes portrait dessin au trait encre sur papier portraits expressifs dessins visage croquis croquis contemporains l'homme avait des illustrations en noir et blanc étude apprendre à dessiner en cours pour débutant Porträtzeichnung in Linie Tinte auf Papier ausdrucksstarke Porträts Zeichnungen Gesichtsskizze zeitgenössische Skizzen Mann hatte Schwarz-Weiß-Kunstwerk Studie lernen ritratto disegno in linea inchiostro su carta ritratti espressivi disegni faccia schizzo schizzi contemporanei uomo che aveva studio d'arte in bianco e nero impara come disegnare in corso per principianti портретный рисунок чернилами на бумаге выразительные портреты рисунки эскиз лица современные наброски человек учился рисовать черно-белые иллюстрации научиться рисовать для начинающих صورة رسم في خط حبر على ورق صور معبرة رسومات وجه رسم اسكتشات معاصرة رجل لديه دراسة فنية بالأبيض والأسود تعلم كيفية الرسم قيد التقدم للمبتدئين wie man in Bearbeitung für Anfänger zeichnet raphael perez flickr flickriver hive mind interesting tagged artwork artworks bizmakebiz israel israeli painter artist painters artists fine art
photos by Safewater Nexus
SAFEWATER NEXUS - PROJECT HAITI -Learn how you can help!
Six days after the earthquake struck Haiti, SafewaterNexus was on the ground delivering urgent supplies to groups all over Port au Prince. Since then we have been a part of mobilizing multiple specialty relief teams, 400,000 pounds of food, water, tents and medical supplies, evacuations and are now developing intermediate and long-term rebuilding solutions designed to impact 10,000 – 20,000 people. This includes a new village community, school, orphanage, church, clean water project, garden initiative, medical clinic and mission compound.
1. Collect Supplies
If you have questions please call Jennifer Kandt at 423.276.6155 or email info@safewaternexus.org
Water Purification – Iodine Tablets and portable water filters
Basic Medical Supplies – Bandaids / Bandages, neosporin, alcohol, surgical gloves, first aid tape, Motrin, Tylenol (infant, children, adult), cleansing wipes, peroxide, anti fungal ointment, antibacterial hand gel, common antibiotics, etc.
Personal Hygene Products
Flashlights – Battery powered, LED, solar
Batteries – All Types/ sizes
Funding – Can’t donate items? That’s OK! We also need funding for transportation to Haiti and purchasing more items. All donation are tax-deductable.
Peanut Butter
Sheets
Thin Blankets
Pasta
Canned Milk
Powdered Formula
Wash-Clothes
Baby-Wipes
Diapers
Canned Foods – Spam, Vienna Sausage, Vegetables, Fruit
2. Be a drop-off location
We will be adding more drop off locations as they are confirmed. If you would like to partner with us and be a drop off location for supplies, please call Jennifer Kandt at 423.276.6155 or email info@safewaternexus.org
Kingsport, TN
Vancouver, BC
Atlanta, GA
Bristol, TN
Bristol, VA
Charlottesville,VA
Kansas City, MO
Muncie, IN
Wilmore, KY
3. Give financially
4. Go to Haiti
You had seen this bird very often, but do you understand this bird, it's thread and contribution? Let's have a reading about it and learn about this little bird together, includes me. ;)
Eurasian tree sparrow (Passer montanus)
The Eurasian tree sparrow (Passer montanus) is a passerine bird in the sparrow family with a rich chestnut crown and nape, and a black patch on each pure white cheek. The sexes are similarly plumaged, and young birds are a duller version of the adult. This sparrow breeds over most of temperate Eurasia and Southeast Asia, where it is known as the tree sparrow, and it has been introduced elsewhere including the United States, where it is known as the Eurasian tree sparrow or German sparrow to differentiate it from the native unrelated American tree sparrow. Although several subspecies are recognised, the appearance of this bird varies little across its extensive range.
The Eurasian tree sparrow's untidy nest is built in a natural cavity, a hole in a building or the large nest of a European magpie or white stork. The typical clutch is five or six eggs which hatch in under two weeks. This sparrow feeds mainly on seeds, but invertebrates are also consumed, particularly during the breeding season. As with other small birds, infection by parasites and diseases, and predation by birds of prey take their toll, and the typical life span is about two years.
The Eurasian tree sparrow is widespread in the towns and cities of eastern Asia, but in Europe it is a bird of lightly wooded open countryside, with the house sparrow breeding in the more urban areas. The Eurasian tree sparrow's extensive range and large population ensure that it is not endangered globally, but there have been large declines in western European populations, in part due to changes in farming practices involving increased use of herbicides and loss of winter stubble fields. In eastern Asia and western Australia, this species is sometimes viewed as a pest, although it is also widely celebrated in oriental art.
Description
The Eurasian tree sparrow is 12.5–14 cm (5–5½ in) long, with a wingspan of about 21 cm (8.25 in) and a weight of 24 g (0.86 oz), making it roughly 10% smaller than the house sparrow. The adult's crown and nape are rich chestnut, and there is a kidney-shaped black ear patch on each pure white cheek; the chin, throat, and the area between the bill and throat are black. The upperparts are light brown, streaked with black, and the brown wings have two distinct narrow white bars. The legs are pale brown, and the bill is lead-blue in summer, becoming almost black in winter.
This sparrow is distinctive even within its genus in that it has no plumage differences between the sexes; the juvenile also resembles the adult, although the colours tend to be duller. Its contrasting face pattern makes this species easily identifiable in all plumages; the smaller size and brown, not grey, crown are additional differences from the male house sparrow. Adult and juvenile Eurasian tree sparrows undergo a slow complete moult in the autumn, and show an increase in body mass despite a reduction in stored fat. The change in mass is due to an increase in blood volume to support active feather growth, and a generally higher water content in the body.
The Eurasian tree sparrow has no true song, but its vocalisations include an excited series of tschip calls given by unpaired or courting males. Other monosyllabic chirps are used in social contacts, and the flight call is a harsh teck. A study comparing the vocalisations of the introduced Missouri population with those of birds from Germany showed that the US birds had fewer shared syllable types (memes) and more structure within the population than the European sparrows. This may have resulted from the small size of the founding North American population and a consequent loss of genetic diversity.
Taxonomy
The Old World sparrow genus Passer is a group of small passerine birds that is believed to have originated in Africa, and which contains 15–25 species depending on the authority. Its members are typically found in open, lightly wooded, habitats, although several species, notably the house sparrow (P. domesticus) have adapted to human habitations. Most species in the genus are typically 10–20 cm (4–8 in) long, predominantly brown or greyish birds with short square tails and stubby conical beaks. They are primarily ground-feeding seed-eaters, although they also consume invertebrates, especially when breeding. Genetic studies show that the Eurasian tree sparrow diverged from the other Eurasian members of its genus relatively early, before the speciation of the house, plain-backed and Spanish sparrows. The Eurasian species is not closely related to the American tree sparrow (Spizella arborea), which is an American sparrow.
The Eurasian tree sparrow's binomial name is derived from two Latin words: passer, "sparrow", and montanus, "of the mountains" (from mons "mountain"). The Eurasian tree sparrow was first described by Carl Linnaeus in his 1758 Systema Naturae as Fringilla montana, but, along with the house sparrow, it was soon moved from the finches (family Fringillidae) into the new genus Passer created by French zoologist Mathurin Jacques Brisson in 1760. The Eurasian tree sparrow's common name is given because of its preference of tree holes for nesting. This name, and the scientific name montanus, do not appropriately describe this species's habitat preferences: the German name Feldsperling ("field sparrow") comes closer to doing so.
Subspecies
This species varies little in appearance across its large range, and the differences between the eight extant subspecies recognised by Clement are slight. At least 15 other subspecies have been proposed, but are considered to be intermediates of the listed races.
- P. m. montanus, the nominate subspecies, ranges across Europe except southwestern Iberia, southern Greece, and the former Yugoslavia. It also breeds in Asia east to the Lena River and south to the northern regions of Turkey, the Caucasus, Kazakhstan, Mongolia and Korea.
- P. m. transcaucasicus, described by Sergei Aleksandrovich Buturlin in 1906, breeds from the southern Caucasus east to northern Iran. It is duller and greyer than the nominate race.
- P. m. dilutus, described by Charles Wallace Richmond in 1856, is resident in the extreme northeast of Iran, northern Pakistan and northwest India. It also occurs further north, from Uzbekistan and Tajikistan east to China. Compared to P. m. montanus, it is paler, with sandy-brown upperparts.
- P. m. tibetanus, the largest race by size, was described by Stuart Baker in 1925. It is found in the northern Himalayas, from Nepal east through Tibet to northwest China. It resembles P. m. dilutus, but is darker.
- P. m. saturatus, described by Leonhard Hess Stejneger in 1885, breeds in Sakhalin, the Kuril Islands, Japan, Taiwan and South Korea. It is deeper brown than the nominate subspecies and has a larger bill.
- P. m. malaccensis, described by Alphonse Dubois in 1885, is found from the southern Himalayas east to Hainan and Indonesia. It is a dark race, like P. m. saturatus, but is smaller and more heavily streaked on its upperparts.
- P. m. hepaticus, described by Sidney Dillon Ripley in 1948, breeds from northeast Assam to northwest Burma. It is similar to P. m. saturatus, but redder on its head and upperparts.
Distribution and habitat
The Eurasian tree sparrow's natural breeding range comprises most of temperate Europe and Asia south of about latitude 68°N (north of this the summers are too cold, with July average temperatures below 12°C) and through Southeast Asia to Java and Bali. It formerly bred in the Faroes, Malta and Gozo. In South Asia it is found mainly in the temperate zone. It is sedentary over most of its extensive range, but northernmost breeding populations migrate south for the winter, and small numbers leave southern Europe for North Africa and the Middle East. The eastern subspecies P. m. dilutus reaches coastal Pakistan in winter and thousands of birds of this race move through eastern China in autumn.
The Eurasian tree sparrow has been introduced outside its native range, but has not always become established, possibly due to competition with the house sparrow. It was introduced successfully to Sardinia, eastern Indonesia, the Philippines and Micronesia, but introductions to New Zealand and Bermuda did not take root. Ship-carried birds colonised Borneo. This sparrow has occurred as a natural vagrant to Gibraltar, Tunisia, Algeria, Egypt, Israel, and Dubai.
In North America, a population of about 15,000 birds has become established around St. Louis and neighbouring parts of Illinois and southeastern Iowa. These sparrows are descended from 12 birds imported from Germany and released in late April 1870 as part of a project to enhance the native North American avifauna. Within its limited US range, the Eurasian tree sparrow has to compete with the house sparrow in urban centres, and is therefore mainly found in parks, farms and rural woods. The American population is sometimes referred to as the "German sparrow", to distinguish it from both the native American tree sparrow species and the much more widespread "English" house sparrow.
In Australia, the Eurasian tree sparrow is present in Melbourne, towns in central and northern Victoria and some centres in the Riverina region of New South Wales. It is a prohibited species in Western Australia, where it often arrives on ships from Southeast Asia.
Despite its scientific name, Passer montanus, this is not typically a mountain species, and reaches only 700 m (2,300 ft) in Switzerland, although it has bred at 1,700 m (5,600 ft) in the northern Caucasus and as high as 4,270 m (14,000 ft) in Nepal. In Europe, it is frequently found on coasts with cliffs, in empty buildings, in pollarded willows along slow water courses, or in open countryside with small isolated patches of woodland. The Eurasian tree sparrow shows a strong preference for nest-sites near wetland habitats, and avoids breeding on intensively managed mixed farmland.
When the Eurasian tree sparrow and the larger house sparrow occur in the same area, the house sparrow generally breeds in urban areas while the smaller Eurasian tree sparrow nests in the countryside. Where trees are in short supply, as in Mongolia, both species may utilise man-made structures as nest sites. The Eurasian tree sparrow is rural in Europe, but is an urban bird in eastern Asia; in southern and central Asia, both Passer species may be found around towns and villages. In parts of the Mediterranean, such as Italy, both the Tree and the Italian or Spanish sparrows may be found in settlements. In Australia, the Eurasian tree sparrow is largely an urban bird, and it is the house sparrow which utilises more natural habitats.
Behaviour and ecology
Breeding
The Eurasian tree sparrow reaches breeding maturity within a year from hatching, and typically builds its nest in a cavity in an old tree or rock face. Some nests are not in holes as such, but are built among roots of overhanging gorse or similar bush. Roof cavities in houses may be used, and in the tropics, the crown of a palm tree or the ceiling of a verandah can serve as a nest site. This species will breed in the disused domed nest of a European magpie, or an active or unused stick nest of a large bird such as the white stork, white-tailed eagle, osprey, black kite or grey heron. It will sometimes attempt to take over the nest of other birds that breed in holes or enclosed spaces, such as the barn swallow, house martin, sand martin or European bee-eater.
Pairs may breed in isolation or in loose colonies, and will readily use nest boxes. In a Spanish study, boxes made from a mixture of wood and concrete (woodcrete) had a much higher occupancy rate than wooden boxes (76.5% versus 33.5%), and birds nesting in woodcrete sites had earlier clutches, a shorter incubation period and more breeding attempts per season. Clutch size and chick condition did not differ between nest box types, but reproductive success was higher in woodcrete, perhaps because the synthetic nests were 1.5 °C warmer than their wooden counterparts.
The male calls from near the nest site in spring to proclaim ownership and attract a mate. He may also carry nest material into the nest hole. The display and nest building is repeated in autumn. The preferred locations for the autumn display are old Eurasian tree sparrow nests, particularly those where nestlings had hatched. Empty nest boxes, and sites used by house sparrows or other hole nesting birds, such as tits, pied flycatchers or common redstarts, are rarely used for the autumn display.
The untidy nest is composed of hay, grass, wool or other material and lined with feathers, which improve the thermal insulation. A complete nest consists of three layers; base, lining and dome. The typical clutch is five or six eggs (rarely more than four in Malaysia), white to pale grey and heavily marked with spots, small blotches, or speckling; they are 20 x 14 mm (0.8 x 0.6 in) in size and weigh 2.1 g (0.08 oz), of which 7% is shell. The eggs are incubated by both parents for 12–13 days before the altricial, naked chicks hatch, and a further 15–18 days elapse before they fledge. Two or three broods may be raised each year; birds breeding in colonies produce more eggs and fledglings from their first broods than solitary pairs, but the reverse is true for second and third clutches. Females which copulate frequently tend to lay more eggs and have a shorter incubation time, so within-pair mating may be an indicator of the pairs' reproductive ability. There is a significant level of promiscuity; in a Hungarian study, more than 9% of chicks were sired by extra-pair males, and 20% of the broods contained at least one extra-pair young.
Hybridisation between the Eurasian tree sparrow and the house sparrow has been recorded in many parts of the world with male hybrids tending to resemble the Eurasian tree sparrow while females have more similarities with the house sparrow. A breeding population in the Eastern Ghats of India, said to be introduced, may also hybridise with house sparrows. On at least one occasion a mixed pair has resulted in fertile young. A wild hybridisation with the resident sparrows of Malta, which are intermediate between the Spanish sparrow (P. hispaniolensis) and Italian sparrows (P. italiae), was recorded in Malta in 1975.
Feeding
The tree sparrow is a predominantly seed and grain eating bird which feeds on the ground in flocks, often with house sparrows, finches, or buntings. It eats weed seeds, such as chickweeds and goosefoot, spilled grain, and it may also visit feeding stations, especially for peanuts. It will also feed on invertebrates, especially during the breeding season when the young are fed mainly on animal food; it takes insects, woodlice, millipedes, centipedes, spiders and harvestmen.
Adults use a variety of wetlands when foraging for invertebrate prey to feed nestlings, and aquatic sites play a key role in providing adequate diversity and availability of suitable invertebrate prey to allow successful chick rearing throughout the long breeding season of this multi-brooded species. Large areas of formerly occupied farmland no longer provide these invertebrate resources due to the effects of intensive farming, and the availability of supplementary seed food within 1 kilometre (0.62 mi) of the nest-site does not influence nest-site choice, or affect the number of young raised.
In winter, seed resources are most likely to be a key limiting factor. At this time of year, individuals in a flock form linear dominance hierarchies, but there is no strong relation between the size of the throat patch and position in that hierarchy. This is in contrast to the house sparrow; in that species, fights to establish dominance are reduced by the display of the throat patch, the size of which acts as a signalling "badge" of fitness.
The risk of predation affects feeding strategies. A study showed increased distance between shelter and a food supply meant that birds visited a feeder in smaller flocks, spent less time on it and were more vigilant when far from shelter. Sparrows can feed as "producers", searching for food directly, or "scroungers", just joining other flock members who have already discovered food. Scrounging was 30% more likely at exposed feeding sites, although this is not due to increased anti-predator vigilance. A possible explanation is that riskier places are used by individuals with lower fat reserves.
Survival
Predators of the tree sparrow include a variety of accipiters, falcons and owls, such as the Eurasian sparrowhawk, common kestrel, little owl, and sometimes long-eared owl and white stork. It does not appear to be at an increased risk of predation during its autumn moult, despite having fewer flight feathers at that time. Nests may be raided by Eurasian magpies, jays, least weasels, rats, cats and constricting snakes such as the horseshoe whip snake.
Many species of birdlice are present on the birds and in their nests, and mites of the genus Knemidocoptes have been known to infest populations, resulting in lesions on the legs and toes. Parasitisation of nestlings by Protocalliphora blow-fly larvae is a significant factor in nestling mortality. Egg size does not influence nestling mortality, but chicks from large eggs grow faster.
Tree sparrows are also subject to bacterial and viral infections. Bacteria have been shown to be an important factor in the failure of eggs to hatch and in nestling mortality, and mass deaths due to Salmonella infection have been noted in Japan. Avian malaria parasites have been found in the blood of many populations, and birds in China were found to harbour a strain of H5N1 that was highly virulent to chickens.
The immune response of tree sparrows is less robust than that of the house sparrow and has been proposed as a factor in the greater invasive potential of the latter. The house sparrow and tree sparrow are the most frequent victims of roadkill on the roads of Central, Eastern and Southern Europe. The maximum recorded age is 13.1 years, but three years is a typical lifespan.
Status
The tree sparrow has a large, currently unquantified range; its world population is also unknown, but includes an estimated 52–96 million individuals in Europe. Although population trends have not been evaluated, the species is not believed to approach the thresholds for the population decline criterion of the IUCN Red List (that is, declining more than 30% in ten years or three generations). For these reasons, the species' conservation status is evaluated at the global level as "Least Concern".
Although the tree sparrow has been expanding its range in Fennoscandia and eastern Europe, populations have been declining in much of western Europe, a trend reflected in other farmland birds such as the skylark, corn bunting and northern lapwing. From 1980 to 2003, common farmland bird numbers fell by 28%. The collapse in populations seems to have been particularly severe in Great Britain, where there was a 95% decline between 1970 and 1998, and Ireland, which had only 1,000–1,500 pairs in the late 1990s. In the British Isles, such declines may be due to natural fluctuations, to which tree sparrows are known to be prone. Breeding performance has improved substantially as population sizes have decreased, suggesting that decreases in productivity were not responsible for the decline and that survival was the critical factor. The large decline in tree sparrow numbers is probably the result of agricultural intensification and specialisation, particularly the increased use of herbicides and a trend towards autumn-sown crops (at the expense of spring-sown crops that produce stubble fields in winter). The change from mixed to specialised farming and the increased use of insecticides has reduced the amount of insect food available for nestlings.
Relationships with humans
The tree sparrow is seen as a pest in some areas. In Australia, it damages many cereal and fruit crops and spoils cereal crops, animal feed and stored grain with its droppings. Quarantine rules prohibit the transport of this species into Western Australia.
Chairman Mao Zedong of China attempted in April 1958 to reduce crop damage by tree sparrows, estimated at 4.5 kg (9.9 lb) of grain per bird each year, by mobilising three million people and many scarecrows to drive the birds to death by exhaustion. Although initially successful, the "great sparrow campaign" had overlooked the numbers of locusts and other insect pests consumed by the birds, and crop yields fell, exacerbating a famine which led to the deaths of 30 million people between 1959 and 1961. The tree sparrow's consumption of insects has led to its use in agriculture to control fruit tree pests and the common asparagus beetle, Crioceris aspergi.
The tree sparrow has long been depicted in Chinese and Japanese art, often on a plant spray or in a flying flock, and representations by oriental artists including Hiroshige have featured on the postage stamps of Antigua and Barbuda, Central African Republic, China and the Gambia. More straightforward illustrations were used on the stamps of Belarus, Belgium, Cambodia, Estonia and Taiwan. The fluttering of the bird gave rise to a traditional Japanese dance, the Suzume Odori, which was depicted by artists such as Hokusai.
In the Philippines, where it is one of several species referred to as maya, and is sometimes specifically referred to as the "mayang simbahan" ("church maya" or "church sparrow"), the tree sparrow is the most common bird in the cities. Many urban Filipinos confuse it with the former national bird of the Philippines, the black-headed munia - also called a maya, but specifically differentiated in folk taxa as the "mayang pula" ("red maya").
[Credit: en.wikipedia.org/]