Thursday, November 4, 2010

Paragon of ubiquity

FEMALE HOUSE SPARROW (PASSER DOMESTICUS), EVANSTON, ILLINOIS, OCTOBER 30, 2010

Pentax K20D
SMC Pentax-F* 300mm f4.5 ED (IF)
1/250 sec f6.7
ISO 1600

The house sparrow is the world's most widely distributed bird and is still extending its range; it arrived in Iceland during the 1990s. What's more, this gregarious little species leads a life that HBO really ought to film as a reality series. According to Wikipedia, although males and females mate for life, "bigamy occurs, and is mostly limited by aggression between females. Male House Sparrows guard their mates carefully before breeding to avoid being cuckolded."

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