Birdwatching
with Phyllis Yochem
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Published
by the Corpus Christi Caller-Times. CLICK FOR NEWSPAPER DELIVERY
Tuesday, October 23, 2001
House sparrows thrive in S. Texas
The population of house or English sparrows has declined drastically, according to published research.
House sparrows were introduced intentionally into this country from England in 1850.
They did well, displacing many native birds. One description of the bird says it characteristically has a "quarrelsome, boisterous temperament, gregarious with a high reproduction rate and the absence of a pleasing song." They have a pleasant habit of dust bathing on sunny, winter afternoons - fun to watch.
A frequent guest
When we feed our backyard birds, our most frequent guests are house sparrows. The male is a dapper little brown-backed bird with black face and bib. His breast and underparts are gray. The female is an all over more drab, gray brown with no outstanding facial marks.
House sparrows are not of the same family with the numerous native sparrows many of which winter here.
The population decline referred to was said to have been caused in many parts of the country by the arrival of a more aggressive, successful family, the house finch, a species whose population explosion dates from 1941 when a group of them were released on Long Island.
Competitors
The two species compete for food and housing and occupy very much the same habitat. Where this happens, one species almost always replaces the other. In the east, house finches have won.
House finch males have brown upper parts and bright red crown, breast, and rump. Occasionally the male is yellow. Its flanks are striped. Females are gray brown above, whitish and stripped below. The song of this finch is musical, unlike the tone-deaf, quarrelsome cry of the house sparrow.
So far as I can see, house sparrows are still thriving in South Texas.
Further, I have only seen one house finch, several years back on the west side of town, near McKenzie Road.
Phyllis Yochem, a Corpus Christi resident, has studied birds in
Texas since 1960.
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