The Sparrow.

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Welcome to the weekly Easydex Photocontest, hosted by @boyerobert. This week the theme for the contest was Less is More.

In the wintertime their food is increasingly difficult to find

A female sparrow who was looking for something to eat. In the wintertime I always make sure that there is extra feed for the birds because their food is increasingly difficult to find.

A few facts about the sparrows:

• The sparrow is 160 to 165 mm long and weighs 24 to 39.5 grams
• The male has a gray crown and gray cheeks, a black throat and chest, a black mask with white dot behind the eye, a white stripe across the wings and in the breeding season a black beak. The female has a less contrasty drawing than the male, a slight eye line, some drawing on the back and wings and a plain light gray / brown breast.

A female is sought by expressing the lure.

Males are looking for suitable nesting facilities from January onwards and will do so somewhat with dry grass. That is usually a number of nesting places close together. A male who started his nest construction can be recognized by the black colored beak, which can be seen from January. If the potential nests are attractive enough, a female is sought by expressing the lure, but also by sitting in the nest and making sounds from them as if from young sparrows.

From January, females show their interest in certain nests with accompanying male. The final choice for a particular litter can be delayed. Among other things because a balding male is an easy prey and for that reason can just be gone. The female chooses the final spot from the offered places. From that moment on the sparrow couple will jointly build the nest further.

In it, the female lays 1 to 9 eggs, but often 4. After about 12 days of incubation, the eggs are released. When the chicks come out of the egg, they are still naked and blind (see photo) and weigh no more than 3 grams. As soon as it becomes dark and then becomes light again - as happens when the parent bird enters the nesting opening of the nest - they open the still relatively large mouth in the hope of getting food.

During this first week the chicks are fed by both parents with small animal food. Depending on the availability of insects, there will sooner or later be about vegetable food. The longer insects are fed to the nestlings, the more likely the youngsters will stay healthy and alive. After about two weeks the boy flies out. They remain dependent on the care of the parents for some time and are still being fed regularly. The young are able to provide their own food as soon as the beaks are hard enough to peel seeds.

The Sparrow can survive thanks to people.

The sparrow lives in large parts of the world. In colder regions, such as around the Arctic Circle, the sparrow can survive thanks to the warm environment of the people