Laura's House Sparrow information

The House Sparrow was introduced to America many times throughout much of the 1800s, often by homesick European immigrants who missed the familiar cheeping, sometimes by people who wanted America to have all the birds mentioned in the Bible. Sometimes introductions were based on the misconception that House Sparrows would eat pest insects in horse manure-covered city streets. These birds are adaptable and fascinating, one of the birds best-suited for urban living. Unfortunately, they are very aggressive in displacing native species from nest cavities, and have been a factor in the decreasing numbers of bluebirds. It may be fun to watch them eat french fries at fast food restaurants, but they really should not be subsidized at bird feeders.

How you can discourage House Sparrows:

If House Sparrows live in your neighborhood, don't provide mixed bird seeds, especially in platform feeders or on the ground.
In areas where there isn't much bird feeding going on, many House Sparrows don't eat safflower or striped sunflower, which have rather hard shells. Sometimes feeding these will discourage them. But House Sparrows are functionally illiterate, so they don't read the books that say this, and some have figured out how to open hard seeds.
When you do have a lot of House Sparrows, if you close down your feeding station for a few weeks, they may develop alternative feeding arrangements. This may or may not work.
Some people have their birds "trained" to come when they go out to fill the feeders. Since House Sparrows are far more wary than chickadees, nuthatches, and many other feeder birds, if you provide a small amount of food at a set time of day, this may provide at least some good snacking for your other birds while discouraging sparrows.
Most sparrows prefer solid footing,and don't like hanging feeders.
House Sparrows seldom eat niger thistle, so you can provide for your finches without subsidizing them.

How you can see House Sparrows:

If you need to ask, you are living in habitat beyond compare.

All my writing, images, videos, and sound recordings are copyrighted © 1997 - 2007 by Laura L. Erickson. I love to share my work to promote bird conservation and education, and to help people enjoy and learn about the birds and other creatures who live with us on this little planet. I produce this webpage, my radio program, and my photography and sound recordings entirely at my own expense. I could not bear for my hard work to be used to promote any product, company, or organization that is in any way harmful to birds. Please do not use any of my work in any for-profit projects without written permission from me. You can ask for permission by emailing me at chickadee@lauraerickson.com.