When I first saw this bird, I knew that it was a sparrow, but couldn’t identify it. I was baffled when I went to my Peterson Field Guide to Birds of North America, because I couldn’t find the sparrow. I went back and forth through the 14 pages covering sparrows, examining carefully the text and illustrations, but none of the species looked like this bird.
I was beginning to doubt my identification skills, so I kept looking through the field guide, desperately hoping to find the bird. On the very last page of the section of the guide with information on bird species, just before all of the range maps, I stumbled across a small section called Old World Sparrows and found the bird—it’s a House Sparrow (Passer domesticus).
Apparently Old World sparrows are non-native (as their name suggests) and are of a different family from all of the other sparrows that I have observed. The Cornell Lab of Ornithology website indicates that House Sparrows were introduced from Europe in 1851 and that they are common in places with houses, because the birds seem to prefer to nest in manmade structures, like the eaves of buildings, more than natural nesting sites. I took these photos at a little manmade lake that is partially surrounded by houses, rather than at the marsh where I do a lot of my shooting, which may explain why I have never noticed this type of sparrow before.
© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.
As i was reading your story about trying to ID this bird I thought of how I’ve gone through through the same thing with plants so many times. It’s not as easy as it might seem but it feels rewarding when you’ve finally done it.
Lovely shot, Michael…I love the bokeh and the way the branches radiate around the sparrow. Beautiful composition!
Thanks, Cindy. FYI, I took this shot down at the little lake/pond in Kingstowne.
Michael—can you remove the extra “the” in my comment? 😉
I removed the “the” in your initial comment, Cindy. I think that you too are able to edit your comments when you are in the “Manage Comments” section.
Beautiful photo, and an informative description! As an American expat who is delighting in observing the Northern European birds congregating at our bird feeder, I do find myself missing my familiar North American feathered friends. Since I lived in various U.S. suburbs, I’m sure this House Sparrow is what I saw the most. Thank you for the trip down memory lane!
Thanks. I sometimes forget that the ordinary birds that I see are geographically specific and that folks in other parts of the country (and the world) see different species.
This bird used to be so common where I live but it has migrated to rural areas due to the pollution in cities. It is the simplest and loveliest bird ever, isn’t it? It is found in India too.
What a nice portrait of Mr. Sparrow! I have an abundance of these little guys in my suburban back yard. Many birders dislike them because they compete with native species for nesting cavities, especially bluebirds, and can be very aggressive and take over nest boxes. I don’t mind them although they can be frustrating at times. They eat a large portion of the sunflower seeds in my feeders and gobble down the suet cakes, and in the spring they annoy the House Wrens by trying to squeeze into the small nest boxes.
That’s one of the sparrows we get over here. We have a lot in the garden but I have been told their population is dropping in the UK and nobody is sure why.
That may be the best looking House Sparrow I have ever seen. Great portrait!
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