I went out to the shed last evening – where I usually scatter some seeds– and the birds had all left, except for a small band of house sparrows. They were scratching away, happy to find a few seeds that the other birds ignored. I watched as they filled their little craws with millet and then flew away. I love my sparrows – the Blue Collar birds of my back yard.
Sparrows are the Rodney Dangerfield’s of the bird world. They don’t get any respect. In fact, there is a verse in Matthew where Jesus says, “Aren’t two sparrows sold for a penny?”
Think about that. One sparrow would cost a penny and the second basically has no worth. It’s just tossed in with the deal. Jesus went on to say that we have far more worth than sparrows, which were just two for a penny.
My Blue Collar House Sparrows are not flashy like a cardinal or a bluebird. They can’t sing like a wren or shimmy down a tree like a nuthatch, but I happen to think they are extremely pretty birds, especially the male house sparrow, which reminds me a little of a bobwhite quail, my all time favorite bird. The little fellows have white cheeks like a male quail with black throats and reddish brown wing bars. The females are a soft tan with slightly darker wing bars.
House sparrows are not native to the United States, but were introduced to Central Park in New York in 1851. They have adapted famously and have now spread across the country. They are tough, adaptable and aggressive and can survive on city sidewalks and mall parking lots where few other birds can exist. They often sneak into big box stores like Lowe’s where they find scattered seeds and little nooks in the rafters suitable for nests. When we were in Hawaii this spring, the house sparrow was one of the few birds we saw that I also see in my yard.
House sparrows will come to a feeder, but they would rather not. They love to scratch away in the dirt and find juicy morsels – seeds, insects or fruit. My sparrows are almost always in small flocks of 6 or 8 birds.
House sparrows are prolific birds, often raising 3 clutches. We had one family nest in an abandoned birdhouse just outside our bedroom window early this spring, but they hatched those chicks and moved on.
That reminds me. I need to clean out that house for next spring.