Blog - General
About House Sparrows
The House Sparrow is No Sparrow at All
When the word sparrow is mentioned, all too often one thinks of the common house sparrow, an aggressive cavity nesting bird introduced into North America from England in the mid-1850s, becoming the most populace bird in North America by the turn of the century. Besides wreaking havoc on our native cavity nesting birds, it is also seen as a nuisance bird that can over-take our feeders driving off many of the smaller birds and consuming large quantities of precious bird seed. However, the house sparrow, also referred to as the English sparrow, is not a true sparrow at all. It is a Weaver Finch, having no relationship to the sparrow family. So how can you tell if that little brownish bird feeding in your yard is a true sparrow? Simple! Just watch their feeding habits. The house sparrow, or Weaver Finch, uses their bill to sweep for food. That is why many times they shovel seed out of the bird feeder. True sparrows feed much like a chicken, scratching the ground with their feet to turn up seeds and other foods. So if you see a small brown bird scratching the ground with their feet, take a closer look, as they are our native sparrows of North America.