Is It A Bird, Or Is It A Bird?

There’s been a lot of talk on my Twitter stream lately about the ubiquitous house sparrow. To feed or not to feed?

I’ve had bird feeders in my yard for years, and I’ve yet to hear of any method of feeding all the birds BUT house sparrows. This time of year I have clouds of adults and juveniles around the feeders. They assume piranha-like tendencies, emptying a feeder in a matter of minutes.

Do I swear at them? Yes, I do. Do I stop feeding them? No, I don’t.

House sparrows & house finches emptied this feeder in short order!

Bird activity in the yard is bird activity. The active house sparrows catch the attention of other feeder birds such as black-capped chickadees, house finches, woodpeckers and nuthatches – so called good birds that people want to feed. I’ve had many rare birds in the yard during both spring and fall migration, and I’m convinced the house sparrows act as an obvious indicator to the travellers, signalling the location of a high quality restaurant.

There is also a pair of merlins in the neighbourhood, and I know they really appreciate my feeding the house sparrows!

In North America, there will always be people swearing at the house, or English sparrow. They were introduced to this continent in the 1800’s, and are still considered non-native. How long does a bird have to live here before they’re not considered an invasive species? When bird banders catch a house sparrow in their mist net, trust me, they don’t put a band on its little leg and send it on its merry way.

Bird watchers often refer to them as ‘bad birds’, as opposed to a ‘good bird’ sighting like nuthatch or goldfinch. In birding lexicon, their name is usually just-a-house-sparrow.

I’ve heard the arguments that they’re dirty birds, aggressive birds, messy birds at feeders, and don’t belong here. All those things are true. But why is that any reason to stop feeding them? Or do people only want to feed pretty birds?

For the last few years, the house finch has replaced the house sparrow in total numbers in my yard. They’re no slouches at emptying a feeder either, but no one swears at them.

We have an equal opportunity yard here. We’ve long since given up trying to fight the grey squirrels, and we feed them as well as house sparrows. Rabbits too. We even have a wasp nest near the top of one of our spruce trees, and they’re safe from extermination in our yard.

Nature does not exist in a vacuum. If it were not the house sparrow emptying feeders and aggressively chasing other birds, another species would take their place. Wrens, for example, who I love dearly but can be nasty little blighters in the bird world. But people love wrens.

Either feed the birds or don’t feed the birds. If you feed the birds, you’ll be feeding house sparrows, so learn to live with it.

I don’t waste my energies trying to outwit the house sparrows. They’re birds – I feed birds. Period.

• Some great house sparrow fledgling shots on this blog – Lady Woodpecker’s Birds & Beyond
• Spectacular photos of house sparrows at Steve Creek Outdoors
• Another blog posting on house sparrows on Dawn’s Bloggy Blog
• All about house sparrows on Nature Observances blog