Snowfinches and Old World sparrows | Passeridae

Mussen | Snowfinches and Old World sparrows | Gorriones

Stocky, short-legged seed-eaters with a heavy conical bill whose cutting edges are sharp enough to crack a grain of wheat. The tongue carries a small extra bone, the preglossale, which serves as an anvil: the seed is turned against the palate, the husk peeled off and the kernel swallowed, the whole job taking a second. Adults live on seed; the young are raised on caterpillars and aphids. The nest is an untidy domed ball of grass, straw and feathers stuffed into a cavity — a tree hole, a wall crevice, a roof tile or another bird's abandoned nest — and usually stands in a loose colony, with two to four broods a year. Bathing is done in dry dust: the bird kicks out a scrape and works the sand through its plumage. Several species live beside people all year, in villages, farmyards, cities and grain stores, where spilt feed and the buildings themselves supply both food and nest holes.