Sparrows - representatives of the most numerous bird squad, characterized by a small size, strong beak and noisy character. These feathers do not leave their native places even in winter. And every fifth believes that they endure any cold, as they live in stars and can warm together. But in fact, 70% of the sparrows family freezes. The reason for this is low temperatures.
In 2018, in the second half of February, the Arctic anticyclone and an ultrapolar invasion came to the European part of Russia, the south of the Far East, the Urals and Siberia. At night, the temperature lowered to -39 degrees and below. The Ministry of Emergency Situations requested people not to leave at home at night. If those harsh cold are dangerous for people, then for small animals on the similarity of the sparrows - it was deadly.
In addition, the widespread of the anomalous temperatures took away the opportunity to connect to warmer territories.
Alexander Shepel, Russian ornithologist from Perm, together with like-minded people, the Perm cells were opened for tracking their movements in the cold time. After some time, the tit was found in Cheboksary. This confirms the idea that in adverse conditions, even usually wintering birds temporarily change the habitat.
The same applies to the sparrows, because both species belong to one squad and have similar behavior. But with the wide distribution of frosts, birds simply lack places where to fly out, which happened in 2018 by proving the mass death of the feathery.
In addition, the ornithologist noted that the short day took away the chance of a full-fledged nutrition. Insufficient energy led to the fact that the sparrows were weakened and did not produce enough energy to survive in conditions of long-lasting cold.
Nevertheless, at the usual time, the feathers calmly maintain drops to 40 degrees when cold is soon replaced by warmer days and nights.
It is also worth noting that fast metabolism is the main characteristic of all feathered, having a small size. They need a lot of food because of the extensive energy costs. But a short luminous day does not allow the sparrows to eat the daily rate and thereby weakens.
At the same time, the fastest frost, the more food they need. Therefore, people should pay attention to these little urban birds and feed those wheat, millet and oats. These grains are the basis of the diet of this type of feathery.
Thus, the sparrows do not cope with long-term decreases of temperatures. Short-term they are able to survive, but only with the help of a person.