Howdee all,
Yeah..House Sparrows….I think they are going to take over the world.
They seem to hog every birdhouse in my sisters yard…and also at my parents.
I cant help but think how cute these birds are when they are young..
But they do grow up and hog..the feeders, the birdhouses…and the world.
I suppose I shouldn't feel this way…but I do..especially when I hear of how the adults take young bluebirds out of a birdhouse to claim it for their own.
Gosh..whose post was that? Cant remember…
Ok..but that's nature right? Raptors kill…other birds take over nests…so why are some of us anti House Sparrow? I dont hate them...but sometimes, they just annoy me.
What's your take? Do you Like House Sparrows? Do they ruin your day when they eat al the food at your bird feeders?
Are they taking over your Birdhouses?
Do you think they are taking over the world or just your yard? Do you find yourself wanting to take action against these invaders?
OK with that said..
Here are some cute…yes cute…House Sparrows..
Mom..Hey mom!
Me to…me too…Feed me too!
Mom says she wants us to eat allot so that we can take over the world.
Yeah..so I will be good and stop trashing the House Sparrows…for at least five minutes..
For more photos of Birds…and probably not the sad commentary..
check out
It's sad because you and I both love birds, but there comes a point where enough is enough.
ReplyDeleteFor a while we tried to attract Purple Martins to our PM house (which we have since sold). The Sparrows were ruthless! My husband had to pull nests out twice a day, sometimes with eggs in them. Of course we never did have PM's but it brought a whole new level of dislike to the Sparrows for us.
That said, cute pictures Dawn!
Sharon
Count me among the House Sparrow haters! I'm for eradicating them from the US.
ReplyDeleteYup those sparrows are taking over I tell ya... Cute commentary though.. Were the pictures taken with your new Panasonic camera?
ReplyDeleteYIKES... I guess they are a pesty pest but your right the pictures are so cute... Have a good day!
ReplyDelete(((HUGS)))
Donna
I can't hate the sparrow. It would be like hating myself. The House Sparrows in my yard may be 100th generation Americans. It's not their fault they were brought to this country or thrive alongside human development. I talked about this on my blog here: http://tiny.cc/Yf0xh
ReplyDeleteIt is heart breaking to watch them attack other birds though. Have you ever tried the Sparrow Spooker? I talked about this today on my blog: http://bit.ly/nofhg
Many people do not like the House Sparrow. I do understand how annoying they can be. I keep encouraging my song birds to stand up to the HOSP!
ReplyDeleteBaby birds are cute! These are very cute!
Sherry
Hi Dawn
ReplyDeleteYes most birders think house sparrow is a four letter word, but your post reminded me of a story I read once.
A man was introducing his small son to birdwatching. After a few weeks of seeing all kinds of birds, he asked his boy what his favorite bird was. He replied the house sparrow. The man, a true birder, was quietly horrified at this answer. When he asked his son why he picked that bird, the boy said "because they're always there when I want to see a bird."
Hmmm.
House sparrows are listed as endangered here in Europe so naturally my sentiments are quite different. They are such lovely, friendly little birds and have always had quite a special relationship with humans.
ReplyDeleteCoincidently, Magnificent Frigatebird just wrote about 'trash birds' the other day. Interesting food for thought: http://www.magnificentfrigatebird.com/blog/trash-birds-in-trouble/
Great photos! I enjoyed this post.
ReplyDeleteI don't care at all for House Sparrows. They take over everything and that is why they have done so well as our native songbirds have suferred. With that said, I do enjoy watching them downtown at work. They are very smart and its easy to watch them interact with one another as they are not afraid of people. Smart little birds they are and that is one of the biggest factors in why they have succeeded to take over the birding world IMO. ;o)
ReplyDeleteI don't hate House Sparrows.It was man that brought them to the USA-now people hate them because they are here. I understand people doing what they feel they have to do to protect bluebirds.House Sparrows exhibit interesting behaviors that are interesting to watch(I like to watch them take dust baths-for example). If they were rare in the USA-birders would be chasing them around the country to get a good look at one to add to their list.
ReplyDeleteGood series of photos, even if they are House Sparrows.
ReplyDeleteLeedra’s Photos For Fun
Very cute photos you took of my million sparrows that eat me out of house and home. Oh, don't forget their chattering all day long! And those sparrows are prolific with their two to four clutches a year. That's a lot of chirping right out my bedroom window.
ReplyDeleteWe eschew what there is a lot of, including House Sparrows. These birds are a heads-up species of who is able to adapt to the ones who are the real scourge of this sweet earth: US.
ReplyDeleteGreat post Dawn.
ReplyDeleteI like House Sparrow as well. But I am European. After all, I guess they are principally successful in manmade habitat in the US. How many do you find in relative pristine habitat? Are they a problem there?
Dawn - nice pictures. Believe it or not, House Sparrows were deliberately imported into this country to control insects on farms that were a threat to crops. Now this will blow your mind: back in the day, people would kill Shrikes in order to protect those helpful bug-eating House Sparrows. Funny how our perspectives change!
ReplyDeleteW & L
PS - We love the BWBTC site!
Very interesting subject you chose to write on. House Sparrows have in the past caused me great angst. Especially this past fall when they were attacking the Goldfinches as they ate at the thistle feeder. Do I hate them? No! They have to survive just like anything else and nature as we know can be both kind and cruel.
ReplyDelete...I guess the only good thing is.....they are better than Starlings? (Those babies are as cute as can be...really nice photos of them!)
ReplyDeleteInteresting post. I am fascinated by the feelings House Sparrows inspire here. I agree with both what WBU Mid-Michigan and Larry wrote. I became (more) interested in birds while living in the Netherlands, where the House Sparrow is actually in trouble. Europeans are working on improving conditions for them, providing habitat, etc, while it seems everyone in the U.S. is on the warpath against them! Invasive species are a big problem and dealing with them is sooooo difficult. Do the pythons in Florida have supporters? (As Gwen commented above I also posted about House Sparrows this week: http://www.magnificentfrigatebird.com/blog/trash-birds-in-trouble/).
ReplyDeleteThanks everyone..I really enjoyed getting everyones point of view on this topic.
ReplyDeleteI dont think there is a right or wrong answer or feeling.
I cant help but feel some sympathy for the little things, I think they are just doing what comes naturally...just too bad it effects our bluebirds etc.
I like that there are some solutions
Like the Sparrow spooker
http://bit.ly/nofhg
After the fledglings are on their own..my parents stop feeding the birds for the rest of the summer...so that the house sparrows go elsewhere.
If anyone else has comments or suggestions please post them..
thanks again.
You guys are great!
Dawn-- One thing you can do is move way out in the country! We don't have house sparrows out here (or those pesky starlings).
ReplyDeleteIn town (Blacksburg), there are several bluebird trails where the people who monitor the boxes remove the house sparrows (eggs, babies, etc.) Seems cruel but I can understand it (wish they would do that for the feral cats!).
The really bad birds out here are the cowbirds which take over nests of wood thrush and tanager. I chase them away every time they come to the feeder but they still are around.
We don't get a great variety of birds in our immediate neighborhood. But I don't really know if that's because of the zillion House Sparrows that guard the feeder. They bother me in that they're horribly messy, just throwing seed everywhere. Once a month, we have a rather large pile of discarded seed (and, yes, plenty of empty husks too) on the ground that we have to shop-vac up. As Larry mentioned, it is fun watching them bathing in the dust and in the birdbath.
ReplyDeleteI believe I read that the absence of a perch beneath a birdhouse's entryway discourages House Sparrows from moving in.
A lovely series of pictures Dawn, showing that there is enjoyment in watching any birds. Here in England the House sparrow has been in serious decline and are not seen as a pest in most gardens. In my own garden they are a welcome site along with the Starlings. Without these 2 species our number of daily bird visitors would be much much less. Love the blog.
ReplyDeleteHi Dawn,
ReplyDeleteI got to this page of your blog from a year ago doing a search of weird looking coneflower buds. I couldn't find what I was looking for by looking up diseases of them.
I loved this post! What fun photos and captions!
We have several kinds of birds around here, but there are larger numbers of sparrows. Sometimes I feel crabby at them, and other times, I don't mind them. It did bug me when I was checking on my swallowtail caterpillars on the dill, and there was a sparrow on the fence, and no caterpillars in sight.
Can we have our birds back now? House Sparrows are on the list of endangered birds here in most european countries. That they are considered a pest elsewhere breaks my heart. /:
ReplyDelete