A Male House Sparrow Preening

This set of photos shows the amazing shapes a house sparrow goes through during one of its preening performances. It seems to be able to reach all but the tips of its tail feathers during this action. It even uses its feet to reach its head and beak.

Like most small birds, they have the ability to fluff themselves up, confusingly changing their profile if seen from a distance. The spiky nature of some of the sparrows’ preening routine is reminiscent of how cuttlefish can alter their body shape with raised spikes as they change shape to confuse their prey.

When in a thicker hedge, they can go through this splendid routine without having to stop and look around as often as this one did in this sparse tree. At the end, I guess their feathers lay back nice and smooth, ready for flight.

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