Tree Sparrow (Passer montanus). Words & picture by Matt Sewell.
I was was lucky enough to be working in Japan for a couple of weeks recently, on arrival and after being on the go for roughly 26 hours I took myself off for a walk. I quickly came across what I thought where gangs of unruly House Sparrows, but to my delight with closer inspection they were actually their chestnut brothers the Tree Sparrow. A rare sight in the UK and i cant recall seeing once since I was a kid, so I was over the moon to see them thriving in the land of the rising sun.
Easily mistaken for his outgoing cousin the House Sparrow, but once you have noticed the difference you will never confuse them again. This country gentleman matches a chestnut- brown flat cap with his tweeds and prefers to congregate with his cohorts in woodland, farmland and gardens, rather than the car parks and high streets preferred by the House Sparrow. The Tree Sparrow: keeping it real, keeping it rural.
Matt’s book, Our Garden Birds, is on sale from the Caught by the River shop, priced £10.