Lunch with Sparrows

A young house sparrow begs to be fed. 

I had a picnic lunch in Brooklyn Bridge Park this afternoon. House sparrows, Passer domesticus, were watching and hoping for crumbs. A female sparrow had just picked up a tidbit when suddenly another, apparently one of her chicks, rushed over and assumed a begging position -- crouching, mewing, fluttering its wings, and gaping its beak. What parent could resist that? The bird with the crumb handed it over. Summer is still a month away and the baby sparrows are already as big as adults and learning to pick up a free lunch in the park.

Success! Click to enlarge.