Bird Description

Very common and familiar bird around humans as its scientific name suggests. A European import, unpopular with many, but tough and adaptable. The likeliest bird to encounter where you get your morning coffee, in the farmyard, the mall parking lot, nesting in the eaves of the nearby building (any cavity), or at your feeder. Often tame, usually in small groups feeding on the ground or sunning themselves on a hedge. Several chirping notes, sometimes repeated constantly. Flight powerful and straight with fast steady wingbeats. ID: Robust and thick-set with a broad tail. Dull unstreaked underparts, boldly streaked upperparts, and short wing bars. Sexes different. Ad ? br: nicely marked with gray crown, black bill, mostly brown upperparts (including wing coverts), pale cheeks, and black bib. Nonbr ?: a much duller version of same pattern with paler bill. ?: pale dingy brown, indistinct supercilium contrasts with darker cap and eyestripe. Pale bill. Juv: as ? with buffier underparts and fringes to coverts, soft-textured feathers, and rounded tips to flight feathers. 1st-w: molts into adult-like plumage through fall.