random samplings of a restless mind scanning life's canopy
This film has vexed my saturday morning! And not merely because it was posted on Facebook by my elder sister who has always elected to live close to our parents and take care of them while I've been half a planet away for the past two decades. Nor just because our father passed away 5 years ago and I didn't much get to sit on any bench reading the paper or watching birds with him in his last decade. Although he did visit my field site during my Ph.D. research in southern India, and we shared some hikes in the forests of Mundanthurai.
No - the film has just the right touch of sentiment to tug at one's emotions without becoming too maudlin - so that doesn't vex me either. The film is obviously popular, with over 2 million views and ~3000 comments for this YouTube version alone. But none of those comments seem to answer the question that has me scratching my head!
No - what has me vexed this morning is that I'm not sure what species the sparrow in the film actually is! It has distinctive enough color markings to be easy to identify (see esp. the closeup shots in the HD version near minutes 1:52 and 2:32), yet I can't find anything quite like it in the one European bird field guide I have at hand. Nor does it quite fit, from images I've searched online, any of the sparrows or finches on the list of birds in Greece, which seems to be the location of the film. The white eyebrow and the black and white patches on the shoulder/wing share similarities with those of the House or Dead Sea Sparrows, but are different enough to confuse me. Is this a young bird, perhaps, or one in moult?
Do you know: what species of bird is that? Can you help me identify it? For, you see, with my kids, I always try to tell them exactly what species of bird they are pointing at when they bug me for an answer! And I shall fully expect them to be equally specific in my dotage when responding to my 21st query!
I'm a reconciliation ecologist studying the responses of wildlife to human influences through an evolutionary lens. I seek ways to apply evolutionary ecology towards reconciling biodiversity conservation with human development. Also a father of two girls; photographer; birdwatcher; bookworm; cinephile; and explorer of the internets.
I'm a reconciliation ecologist studying the responses of wildlife to human influences through an evolutionary lens. I seek ways to apply evolutionary ecology towards reconciling biodiversity conservation with human development. Also a father of two girls; photographer; birdwatcher; bookworm; cinephile; and explorer of the internets.
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