3rd Year Special Annual Double Issue Vol 4 Issue 1 & 2 Jan - Apr 2 3rd Year Special Annual Double Issue Vol 4 Issue | Page 103

ADVENTURE & WILDLIFE
Nest description
House Sparrow nests are made of coarse
dried vegetation, often stuffed into the hole
until it’s nearly filled. The birds then use
finer material, including feathers, string,
and paper, for the lining. House Sparrows
sometimes build nests next to each other,
and these neighboring nests can share
walls. House Sparrows often reuse their
nests.
Nesting facts
Clutch Size : 1-8 eggs
Number of Broods : 1-4 broods
Egg Length : 0.8-0.9 in
(2-2.2 cm)
Egg Width : 0.6-0.6 in
(1.4-1.6 cm)
Incubation Period : 10-14 days
Nestling Period : 10-14 days
Egg Description : Light white to
greenish white or
bluish white,
usually spotted
with gray or
brown.
Condition at Hatching : Entirely naked
upon hatching
with bright pink
skin, eyes closed,
clumsy.
Behavior - Ground Forager
House Sparrows hop rather than walk
on the ground. They are social, feeding
in crowded flocks and squabbling over
crumbs or seeds on the ground. House
Sparrows are a common sight at bird
feeders; you may also see them bathing
in street-side puddles or dustbathing on
open ground, ruffling their feathers and
flicking water or dust over themselves
with similar motions. From living in such
close company, House Sparrows have
developed many ways of indicating
dominance and submission. Nervous birds
flick their tails. Aggravated birds crouch
with the body horizontal, shove their
head forward and partially spread and roll
forward their wings, and hold the
tail erect. This can intensify to a display
with wings lifted, crown and throat
feathers standing on end, tail fanned,
and beak open. Males with larger
amounts of black on the throat tend
to dominate over males with less
Vol 4 | Issue 2 |Mar - Apr 2019
black. When males display to a
prospective mate, they fluff up their
chest, hold their wings partially open, fan
the tail, and hop stiffly in front of
the female, turning sideways and
sometimes bowing up and down.
Sometimes, other males who spot such a
display in progress will fly in and
begin displayingas well. In flocks,
males tend to dominate over females
in fall and winter, but females assert
themselves in spring and summer.
Conservation - Low Concern
House Sparrow populations declined
by over 3.5% between 1966 and 2015,
resulting in a cumulative decline of 84%,
according to the North American Breeding
Bird Survey. Partners in Flight estimates a
global breeding population of 540 million
with 13% in the U.S., 2% in Canada and
2% in Mexico. The species rates an 8 out
of 20 on the Continental Concern Scale.
As a non-native species, it is not included
on the 2016 State of the Birds Report.
Nest holes in trees and nest boxes are
valuable commodities for birds that
require them for breeding. House Sparrows
are fierce competitors for these, and their
abundance can squeeze out some native
cavity-nesting species. After becoming
common in North American cities,
House Sparrows moved out to colonize
farmyards
and
barns
during
the
twentieth century. With the recent
industrialization of farms, House Sparrows
now seem to be declining across
most of their range.
Backyard Tips
Many people regard House Sparrows as
undesirables in their yards, since they
aren’t native and can be a menace
to native species. House Sparrows are so
closely entwined with people’s lives that
you probably will find them around your
home even without feeding them. They
are frequent visitors to backyard feeders,
where they eat most kinds of birdseed,
especially millet, corn, and sunflower seed.
Find out more about what this bird likes to
eat and what feeder is best by using the
Project FeederWatch Common Feeder
Birds bird list.
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