Sparrow or Finch or what? New Hampshire

bontchimuz

16 years ago

Hi all-

I am a bird noob but have installed a bird house this year and have 2 birds feeding 5 babies right now.

I took some pics of what I guess is the male bird with my iPhone.

Can anyone tell me what bird this is?

Many thanks!

Here is a link that might be useful:

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Comments (8)

bontchimuz
Original Author
16 years ago
another pic

sorry, wish they were a bit clearer

Here is a link that might be useful:
lisa11310
16 years ago
Run, dont walk to www.sialis.org and see if this bird matches the dredded House Sparrow (HOSP)I cant be 100% from the pic but i'm 99%. Read up on why you don't want HOSPs if you are hoping to get Native cavity nesting songbirds. Sorry about this I know you were excited to get your first nesting.
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bontchimuz
Original Author
16 years ago
Its possible that they are sparrows....english sparrows or whatever.

I cant kill them, but next year I will put monofilament on the house and discourage them from nesting ..... what a world...what a world...

shocked at how "deadly" sparrows seem to be....
chris8796
16 years ago
Your picture is of a male house sparrow.
bontchimuz
Original Author
16 years ago
Yeah after further research I see it is clearly a house sparrow.

I have spent like 5 hours researching these birds.

What a shame they seem to be a bother to lots of people.

I will let this couple live and their babies live......but next year, I have my air - rifle which I will use if I ever see them attack other birds on my property.

My question is....are House Sparrows/English Sparrows worse than Blue_jays?
dzyg
16 years ago
HOSP are deadly to other cavity nesting birds, they will enter a nestbox and smash eggs or peck the babies to death and if an adult bird is in the box the HOSP will kill it too. I would NOT let this nesting go any further. To do so is just to produce more of these killers.

Oh and noticing your set-up, birdhouses should not be mounted on wooden posts, racoons, cats, squirrels etc can get the box and make a meal of the babies.

Donna
kendra2003
16 years ago
According to Cornell's lab of ornithology website, only 1% of Bluejays were found to have consumed eggs/young of other species. Also, they are a native bird with predators that raid their nests as well. And they do not have up to 5 broods like house sparrows do. So yes, the house sparrow is much more dangerous because it is extremely prolific and competes with native cavity nesters.
terrene
16 years ago
They bother people because they are an invasive pest and will kill native cavity nesters. Liking them would be similar to liking kudzu or zebra mussels or asian carp! They are destructive to this continent's natural ecologies. I would never let them nest in my yard, in fact I think people should abstain from feeding the birds or putting out bird houses if they are overrun with this species. It's not cute, it's irresponsible to enable an invasive species.

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Sparrow or Finch or what? New Hampshire

Comments (8)

bontchimuz
Original Author

lisa11310

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bontchimuz
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chris8796

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dzyg

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terrene

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Sparrow or Finch or what? New Hampshire

Comments (8)

bontchimuzOriginal Author

lisa11310

Related Discussions

bontchimuzOriginal Author

chris8796

bontchimuzOriginal Author

dzyg

kendra2003

terrene

COMPANY

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GET HELP

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bontchimuz
Original Author

bontchimuz
Original Author

bontchimuz
Original Author