Eurasian Tree Sparrow

This bird is found practically everywhere in the Philippines - in all types of habitat, from the lowlands to high mountains, from forest edge to parks to man-made structures to residential neighborhods. With a total length of around 5-1/4 inches, it's a smallish bird. It feeds on many things and this allowed it to thrive in huge numbers in so many places.

The ETS is so common that many local birdshooters do not bother to photograph it anymore (some of us are even hesitant to include it in our photo lifelist!).

However, I always believed that any ordinary subject - if the pose, lighting, environment and background are good - can also be transfomed into a decent image. I'd probably prefer a technically good photo of an ordinary bird over a blurry capture of a rarity in flat lighting, unless the latter is a lifer.

I was waiting for birds in flight below an Acacia tree at Candaba wetlands when this individual started frolicking at a nearby tree trunk. With BIFs slow to appear, I concentrated instead on capturing this bird in a good pose. This image is my favorite of the lot because the interesting head angle gave me a good catchlight.

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Eurasian Tree Sparrow (Passer montanus, resident)

Habitat - Common in virtually every inhabited island.

Shooting info - Candaba wetlands, Pampanga, Philippines, January 24, 2011, 1DM4 + 500 f4 IS + Canon 1.4x TC, 700 mm, f/6.3, 1/800 sec, ISO 800, manual exposure in available light, 475B tripod/516 fluid head, near full frame resized to 800x533.

Short footage of a Eurasian Tree Sparrow.