northeast-flora-and-fauna

I photographed these 2 commonly-seen sparrows about 13 minutes apart, but their lineages are "worlds" apart. The 1st is a House Sparrow , more commonly seen near human dwellings. They are Old World sparrows , and perhaps because they evolved longer around humans, they're fairly tolerant of humans.  And the 2nd is (another) Song Sparrow , which is a New World sparrow that seems willing to sing for us but generally won't nest especially close to us. Although we have a lot of Old World sparrows here in the US, almost all of them are House Sparrows, and here in NJ you're unlikely to find any other Old World sparrows. As you might suspect, all the Old World sparrows and all the New World sparrows are more closely related to the other sparrows of their "world" than they are to sparrows of the other "world".  And while Song Sparrows are considered skilled and prolific singers, the House Sparrow vocalization mostly sounds like they're calling you ...

Here are a couple of birds who stopped by my patio for Christmas dinner. Though I can't guarantee that any other birds showed up, by far the most common visitors were Dark-eyed Juncos and House Sparrows . Though both of these birds are sparrows, they're really not close relatives since the former are New World Sparrows and the latter are Old World Sparrows , and their ancestries diverged a long time ago. Although House Sparrows aren't big, they really do tower over the Dark-eyed Juncos. I didn't see a lot of interaction between the 2 species but suspect that the juncos like to keep a respectful distance from their distant cousins. I do see some feisty exchanges between juncos though as they establish a pecking order. (I tried to go out and explain that there was no reason to fight, that I'd just bring out more food when the current scatterings were gone, but unfortunately they flew away in terror before I could say anything.) December 25, 2022 in Bridgewater Photo...

Today I've got a story for you. The  House Sparrow  below got into my apartment in mid-August. This is a rare but not unprecedented event; it's happened 2-3 times before. My apartment has a small closet for the gas furnace, and apparently birds are able to fly/climb down the chimney and come out through the furnace. I know when this has happened since I'll hear the bird exploring around in the closet (flapping, scratching, and some vocalization). Previously the bird was trapped in the closet and I'd have some time to prep the apartment prior to trying to guide the bird outside (typically through open sliding glass doors: I can shut the doors to the bedroom and bathroom since AFAIK these windows don't open to anything other than a screen, and thus the bird can't get outside from these rooms. The kitchen is more of a problem. It has no door, and Murphy's Law (and history) have shown the bird will also go in there and similarly find that there's no way out....

Though this picture was taken late last summer, here's someone you can see year-round: a House Sparrow . I suspect that this is a juvenile; it sort of looks like it might still have some of the fluffy down feathers I'd associate with an immature bird. I'm sure it had enough flight feathers to fly, though perhaps not as good as a mature bird. I don't know what it was eating. Maybe nothing particularly good; kids are always putting weird stuff in their mouths. September 2, 2021 at Mt Pleasant Villas Photo 167478507, (c) jpviolette, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC)

Here's a House Finch that seems to be trying to determine the most delicious, savory sunflower seed to eat. Especially at a well-stocked bird feeder, it's okay to be choosy. I've shown House Finches before , but they are neat looking little guys. One thing that might surprise people is that even though they are native to North America, they're not really native to the east . They were a West Coast bird that some people started keeping illegally as pets, and probably some of them were released here, perhaps when the law was closing in on their owners. From there, they relatively rapidly spread throughout the eastern/central US, and are now one of the continent's most abundant wild birds. Presumably because they are native to part of North America, they don't have the notoriety of invasive species like the European Starling or House Sparrow . July 18, 2021 at Scherman Hoffman Wildlife Sanctuary Photo 148188091, (c) jpviolette, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC)

Here's a singing European Starling . They are probably the #1 invasive bird species in North America, only rivaled by the House Sparrow . They were intentionally introduced in Central Park in NYC; legend says it was so that all the birds mentioned in the works of Shakespeare could be enjoyed here in the US. The original 60 that were released now form a population estimated around 150 million birds. Unfortunately their success doesn't come free, as they've replaced native bird species as they've carved out a home here. Starlings are considered mimics, able to imitate other birds like meadowlarks, jays, and hawks. Their own songs seem to be a busy, jumbled collection of warbles, whistles, trills, rattles, and chatters . They're not the most melodious singers in the bird world, though it's possible to appreciate their vocalizing dexterity. July 14, 2021 at Duke Farms Photo 148187900, (c) jpviolette, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC)

Here's a female House Sparrow . Yesterday's male House Sparrows have more of contrast of colors; like with many passerines and ducks, the females have more subdued coloring (a form of sexual dimorphism ). In many cases the best way for me to figure out what female bird is out there is to see what species the males that are with them. This strategy isn't perfect: Sometimes there are "strays" that have none of their own species around, so they'll try and hang out with whoever has similar feeding habits. More rarely you'll correctly identify a pair of birds who end up breeding together ... but they're not the same species. (Mallards and American Black Ducks are just one example.) And of course sometimes you'll see no males around at all. Still, the old saying that "birds of a feather flock together" really does work most of the time. March 2021 at Finderne

While yesterday's Mourning Dove are rare beneficiaries of the bird food I've left out for the Dark-eyed Juncos , much more frequent beneficiaries are the House Sparrows . As one of the most successful invasive bird species in North America (the European Starling is the other one), House Sparrows are less popular with birders, naturalists, and ecologists than almost any bird we see. This actually extends to the law; while harming most birds is illegal (with some regulated exceptions for game birds), these guys aren't protected by federal law. (Local animal cruelty laws could still apply though.) These guys are Old World sparrows , and are thus not particularly closely related to virtually all the other sparrows you see; almost all the other sparrows you see are New World sparrows . (New World sparrows are actually more closely related to Old World Buntings than Old World Sparrows. Such is the confusing world of taxonomy.) March 2021 at Finderne