House Sparrow

We get a lot of House Sparrows to our backyard feeder.These are perched in our backyard plum tree waiting for their turn at the feeder. I suspect these are the most common sparrows around here and one of the most common birds in the city. I really enjoy them in the spring when they bring the fledglings to the feeder and give them lessons on how to crack sunflower seeds (and feed them so they don't starve for want of success.) That's a male House Sparrow in the center of the photo surrounded by females and/or juveniles.

Good Morning!

Here is what I see most mornings now when I go outside. This lineup of House Sparrows and about 50 of their friends and relatives are waiting for me to fill the feeder so they can have breakfast.

House Sparrow

This is a House Sparrow (Passer domesticus), according to Wikipedia, "...the most widely distributed wild bird..." on this planet, though one that has not graced the pages of Victoria Daily Photo in the past, a regrettable omission. Part of my self-imposed discipline as a neophyte birdwatcher is to learn to recognize all the nearly indistinguishable little brown/gray birds that flutter around in the background of our lives here. There are about a half dozen kinds of sparrow around here and a bunch more close relatives such as the Chickadees. The other local challenge is sorting out the gulls - many different species look quite similar and I still can't tell one from the other with any confidence.