Things you need to know about HOUSE SPARROWS!
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- Опубліковано 11 кві 2021
- The house sparrow recently came in at top place in the UK big garden bird watch and there are thought to be more than 5million pairs in the country, so it might come as a surprise that these noisy, gregarious little birds are less than half as common as they were in the late 1970s. House sparrows are slightly larger than robins with a wingspan of 21 to 25 centimetres and grow to weigh around 31 grams. Both the males and females have mottled brown wings but the males have distinctive head markings that helps to separate them. This includes white cheek patches, a grey cap, chestnut markings down the back of the head and a black bib. This bib varies in size depending on the birds social status. Young birds look very similar to females but have a more washed out appearance and have slightly yellow looking beaks.
As their name suggests, house sparrows have long been associated with people with records of them living alongside us as early as 11000 years ago in the middle east. Since then they have spread with people across most of Europe, northern Africa and Asia and over the last 200 years they have also colonized much of the American continents and Australia. This relationship with people has been supported by two main factors. Firstly they have managed to find lots of suitable nesting sites around our houses and other structures, often nesting beneath loose roof tiles and in the eaves of buildings and secondly because of their ability to digest the starchy foods that we produce in agriculture such as potatoes, corn and wheat. These foods make up a portion of their diet but they will also eat a wide range of other foods including seeds, berries and fruits and also insects throughout the spring and summer.
When it comes to nesting, house sparrows prefer to do it communally and will often nest very close to other pairs. When this isn’t under tiles and in eaves, they will also use man made nest boxes, holes in trees and amongst dense bushes and ivy. Each female will lay between 3 and 5 mottled cream and brown eggs. Both parents share the incubating duties and the eggs take between 11 and 14 days to hatch. They will start incubating before all the eggs are laid and this means that as the chicks develop, some will be smaller than others. If there isn’t enough food whilst the chicks are being reared this will give the larger and stronger ones more chance to outcompete their siblings and successfully fledge. Once hatched, the chicks take from 14 to 16 days to fledge the nest. The parents then feed them for a further two weeks before they are fully independent.
In the UK house sparrows do not migrate but they sometimes disperse away from their breeding areas throughout the winter to find food on farmland and woodlands. As mentioned before, house sparrows have suffered a severe decline since the 1970s which has been attributed to changes in farming practices and modern houses providing less suitable nesting sites. This decline seems to be levelling out in some places with some populations in Scotland and northern Ireland increasing over the past few years. The house sparrows average lifespan is just 3 years but in Texas in 2004 a bird was found that had been ringed more than 15 years before!
Massive thanks to Tom Cross and Gen Fiske White for allowing me to use their house sparrow egg photographs. Toms original picture can be found here: tinyurl.com/h3nk7e8p and Gens Instagram is here:
/ genny2shoes
Some of the footage in the video was obtained using creative commons licences, the originals and their licence information can be found at:
• Txolarreak, hormatxori...
• Sparrow Feeding Fledgling
#britishwildlife
#britishbirds
#naturefacts - Домашні улюбленці та дикі тварини
Sparrows are my favourite bird,😀
I love how they visit my windows in groups.😊
I love how they chirp all the time , having little fights in between them while feeding on grains.😄
I love how they always take shelter on our windows whenever it's raining.☺️
It's true they're very sceptical about everything around them & always ready to fly away.😁
I know it's looks like an essay but it's the only way to show my love & gratitude to these little angels.
Keep flying & keep thriving my little friends.😇
I was fond of them too until I learned they are like flying piranhas. Killing every other bird in the area their size until you are left only with ugly birds that can't sing.
Thats brilliant! I'm glad you got to have such an experience with them. I wonder if that male sparrow had a counterpart to you, where he migrated in the winter.
having same experience to the point where 1 little bugger ran in my house and then started FREAKING OUT
Bread isn't good to give them. It has zero nutrients and fills them so they don't look for actual food. They do love peanuts.
I agree with you. These had a great deal of bread being thrown out near there territory, a Co-op convenience store near the station. They were used to it, but I always invested a few Francs in Sunflower seeds, they last at least a week. The bread is only to get them to come at the beginning, and as I said, Arrow would not eat anything.
Sorry, 'Arrow' is the alpha in my photo. He was so nice and fun to be around. I'd rub his belly with a spare finger, but in the years I knew him, I would never try to use my other hand to pet him. I think that is important, as it feels like blocking his ability to fly away.
You left some of the coolest things out: they can swim! If attempting to avert death by hawk (or some such), they have been known to dive into a body of water, and actually swim under the water, to escape. They are incredible survivors!
That is cool to know.
also, they are psychopomps
@@filipl234 thanks for supporting Google search engine! 👍🤣
@@cynthianichols1194 Google's pleasure
Wow
Sparrows are my favorite bird. They’re common as mud and not really all that interesting to look at, but they’re tiny and cute and adorable and I love how agile they are at flying when they want to be.
They are also very smart birds. Back in the frigid winter of 1964-63,,I was working near St.James's Park in London, and used to buy buns and go to the park during the lunch hour to feed the birds. The little sparrows would line up on the back or a park bench (being good little British birds, they knew how to queue) and shuffle along to where I was throwing bits of bread to them. They really did take turns! .When they got to the end of the bench, they'd fly back to the beginning and re-join the line. Like a living conveyor belt. And when I threw crumbs down to the ground for the pigeons, sparrows would flutter into the air and grab a crumb before it got down to pigeon level. The poor dumb pigeons would be poking around, obviously thinking "Where'd it go? Where'd it go?" I always thought of the sparrows as tough little Cockneys who could survive all manner of troubles. Sorry to hear they are in decline. Of course, a lot of urban birds were in decline much earlier, when horses gave way to the internal combustion engine and they didn't have piles of horse manure to search for seeds, or the oats scattered from horses' feed bags, and there weren't stables to hang around, another good source of scattered seeds.
They have incredible plumage what do you mean they're not interesting to look at....
Some can also be quite the bully (maybe).
Five-ish years ago, during a morning run, I came by a few sparrows sitting in a small tree at the end of a driveway.
They were making a bit of noise, sounding as if they were about to pick a fight.
Then, one of them grabbed another with its beak, by the feathers on its cheek, and it just hung there, unable to do anything. I walked up to the tree and said something like "Hey, that's not nice", and two seconds later, the bully released the other, which flew up and sat on a higher branch. Then they all flew away together.
I'm guessing that either one of them was a bully, or maybe they were establishing some kind of pecking order. Could also just be something they do, pick on each other once in a while.
@@silvergreylion I just witnessed a similar scenario with them a few weeks ago! I assumed it was some kind of "Sparrow Fight Club" but still told them to knock it off and be nice.
I've always adored them. Rambunctious, greedy little feather balls, that they are 😁. In Berlin, where I used to live, are huge populations of them. They will literally hop on people's tables and steal food right from their plates, in some spots. And everyone just tolerates this, because they're just so tiny and adorable.
Some will even venture inside Cafés.
Or you will randomly pass a large bush or something and it sounds, like there are at least a hundred of them congregated in there...all of them 'talking' at ones. Always reminds me of these British Parliament 😅
I rescued one fallen from nest during winter in a storm weather. I fed him with a variety of seeds and the special baby mixture which needed to be heated up and given with a seringe. He brew very fast and since I had a lot of experience saving baby pigeons, he felt quite confortable after just a day or two. We made him a house where he could feel safe and rest and we feed him quite a lot like each hour and also we provided him watter on his disposal allways and he also adored taking baths. He grew quickly and started flying, he would fly on me and ask for food directly into my mouth. After a couple of wéeks he was healthy and flying well, so one day we forgot to close the window and he just flew away. We were so happy that it ended all so well and that he returned to his wild life so naturally. Thatnk you so much for this video and for loving animals, wish you much happiness. Kimdest regards!
I rescued a little crow once and had to get up every day at like before 5 because he was hungry and crying for food, I loved him so much and when he flew away (I hope so much to start his own family ...) I was totally devastated for weeks but also happy he was strong and had a life.
Nice to hear these stories. 🌼 🤗
Your story was a beautiful bright spot in my day! Thank you 😉
How did you teach him to find food independently? I'm at a stage where the baby sparrow I rescued 2 weeks ago can fly now but is still dependent on being fed.
Same happened to me yesterday I grew a sparrow well and she flew away yesterday but that made me sad but I'm happy
As a sparrow, I can confirm all of this information as legit. Thank you for sharing love for us
omg hi! :D
@@meihatsume1165
Hi friendly human 💙
Awesome I’m an American robin ^^
@@spiffyphoton2903 no, you're an impostor
@@presauced Lol i used to have an american robin pfp but yes im an impostor now
I am in College Station, Texas, USA and have been observing a community of house sparrows in my yard. They are brining their fledglings here to feed and rest in my garden to catch some late morning sun. Today, some new fledglings appeared and a male is on feeding & foraging duties while mom is giving the older ones feeder lessons. I especially like how the older fledglings help the younger ones by showing them the ropes (we hang out and play in the bottle brush and it gives cover along with the salvia etc) I saw one swoop down and sort of brush its wings against the little one to let it know that hey - we are up here in this planter. it's quite endearing. It was nice to learn that these birds have lived alongside humans etc. It stormed last night and washed away much of the food I put on the patio pavers for the chicks. I forgot to put some out this morning and had a visit at my back door from a mom... she brushed against the door to let me know she was there, I turned on my video and there she was staring inside the door. I ruled out a window/door strike since I have the safety glass and I know what those sound like.. and she was intent on me coming outside. lol... I'm convinced that these are very intelligent birds behind the crow and hummingbird. Thanks to whoever reads my long as h*ll goings on about my house sparrow observations - they do bring me joy!
I live in Texas and can tell you the little sparrows have plenty of food and water at my house...and since we are having a severe heat wave,,,I have kept my water well sprinklers on for "all" the birds.....Thank you for the video...Very interesting !
Sadly, house sparrows are an invasive species in this continent and they do a lot of harm to our beautiful native birds.
They're actually legal to hunt.
I tell everyone “i even get excited over a sparrow” that’s how much I love bird watching. I’m so happy that you’ve included the house sparrow in your excellent videos. You’ve got a perfect way of teaching and you let it be easy and uncomplicated if you know what I mean. I for one really appreciate this. Thanks again for your time and effort and work and studying.
Loved the signing off from the sparrows at the end 😁 lovely
Thanks Stu! I really appreciate your support. I’m not sure if I responded to your previous comment about the camouflage but I am currently trying to film some brown hares, so the camouflage might be making a reappearance!
These videos are meant to cover “one page” in a wildlife guide if you get what I mean.
Anyway, thanks as always for your kind comment :)
@@AShotOfWildlife Ahhhh that’s a great idea having page per video. Nice one.
I get excited when I see a crow :)
I just wish they didn’t kill bluebirds in the US . Are house sparrows not aggressive in your area , probably not since the are native
@@annereynolds66 oh no they’re not aggressive at all. They’re always hiding in hedges and chirping away like there’s no tomorrow 😆
I work in a cafe in Ontario, and all the signage is packed with house sparrow nests. They poop all over the patio tables and chairs, and regularly fly in through the doors forcing us to stop working and shoo them out. But I can't be mad at them for a second. They're one of the best parts of the job. Customers sit by the windows just to watch them, and we're pretty sure they're all watching us back. They're used to being fed by pedestrians, so they always stop by people to say hello. Just too cute.
It's so important for people to realize you don't need to go to a National park to see beauty.
It's everywhere!
Love the cheeky little House Sparrows… back in the early ‘70’s they used to congregate in quite large numbers on a roof opposite my bedroom window & it was wonderful to watch them playing, rolling & tumbling, and generally having fun!
As an Aussie I grew up with sparrows sharing and eating my pasties and pies I have always loved them . Thank you for the information
Sparrows are so cute little guys
@@GodisMyNo1 They are not native to Australia. They are pests
As a former aussie I lived in an area full of bird like sparrows and gallahs. I would name them one by one. Noticeably there a particular bird I named ScoMo
In the upper plains in the states It's summer so we have a lot of colorful migrating birds, but the sparrow are one of the very few wildlife that sticks around when our harsh Winter weather moves in so I have a special place in my heart for them - bringing life to the cold, barren land...
I have always loved sparrows, thank God for creating these beautiful creatures.
Me and my wife love sparrows , we have a squadron of them coming to our garden for the last twenty years .They must like our garden with plenty of feeding stations on the go.They brighten up the day and cheer us up no end.
Haha! We call our local cluster of sparrows the squadron too!
sy16 lots of them, noisey, squabbling but great parents. They brighten up our days. Food available always.
I love seeing house sparrows visiting my garden!
Ugh....come take all of mine then. I’ve had about 40 of them all morning and they’ve been chasing all other birds away. Didn’t mind them coming to my feeders until I found out how aggressive they are to other birds. Even going as far as killing other bird and throwing their young from their nests just so they can take over the nest. 🙄
They are invasive
@@tylerjones7592 Not in the UK!
@@J10969 Their population is half of what it should be in the UK so I would gladly take them!
@@FeraForus take the starlings too
I have 2 cute male sparrows in my house as pets. Life span is more than 3 years. I had one from 2017. God bless him with longest life possible.
In the video I say that the average lifespan is three years, but one survived to be 15 years old so you may have yours for a lot of years more. I hope you enjoyed the video :)
I've read that the record lifespan is 23 years for a house sparrow in captivity, and 19 years for a wild house sparrow. The average is so low because they suffer a really high "infant" mortality; just 2 out of 10 will live the first year. Mainly because they are easy preys for predators, and also many die of starvation and disease. But once they survive their first years, they a much better chance to have longer lives. I hope your friends have a long and happy life :)
PLEASE REPLY. Seriously though, I don't have the heart to kill/ abandon it, so what do i do when I can't find the original nest anywhere?
@@dirtydaz8805 leave it alone. Nature will do the job. Nothing more is required of you
@@eelsoirdor3573 I was thinking that this sounded incredibly short, so that makes a lot of sense. Birds commonly live far longer than mammals of a similar size, for example pigeons can live to be 25, while rats are lucky to see three years.
Don't forget about little New Zealand !!! We love these awesome little birds. Have been feeding and watching them for as long as I can remember. Saved a few from the cat too, luckily the cat would just catch them then bring them inside to show us. Great channel many thanks.
I'm from Singapore, the house sparrows seems to be almost decimated here while the crow population grew. The crows seem to feed on these smaller birds. Luckily authorities stepped in to control the crow population and now the house sparrows are slowly coming back.
we used to see sparrows when I was a child every day, now there are none. I suspect it was change of waste disposal that made them starve/leave, as they were mostly going through garbage all day
Sammmeee
Its happening everywhere
They've almost disappeared from my house and I would have at least 50 nesting pairs every Spring. Every year there are less and less.
@@maxp9598 They are doing pretty well Texas. I see them all the time.
Built a big luxury bird box out of some old decking this morning to attract some more chirps this summer in the garden and to help keep pests down on my plants as I refuse to use pesticides. I completed it at around 13:00, mounted it on the wall by 14:00, and I kid you not this evening I visited my greenhouse for a water at 17:00 and the sparrows were in and out with fibres from a nearby banana tree. It's really made my month, and I can't wait to see the sparrow family grow!
if you can, plant in your yard some seeds of mustard, collard, bok choy, etc. small birds almost decimated my stock when I was drying them. it's like crack to them. plus the wild bees love the flowers.
I Love them around. They nest in the buildings roof eaves. They eat a lot of insect pests.
So adorable. 💕🥰🤗
I live in Ohio. They nest in the corners of my roof and can peck their way into my attic. They are considered an invasive species, but I haven't called pest control on them. I feed them and set up a second bird house for them (other than the corners of my porch/roof). Our robins are WAY bigger, though. A sparrow could fit in my hand. A robin is longer and fatter. Robins act like the police in my yard. I saw one attacking a blue jay that was trying to eat a humming bird egg. It was the craziest live bird interaction I'd ever seen.
Yeah, the robins here in Colorado are also much larger. A Google search revealed that the robins in the UK are quite a bit different.
Did the Robin kneel on the jay's neck?
Ditto. Robin's much bigger in Ohio. They don't mess with the blue Jay's much. Robin's are mostly insectivores and blue Jay's aren't as fussy. The blue Jay's around here will team up and chase away small hawks.
The English robin redbreast is, I think, a different species. It's about the size of a house sparrow, whereas the American robin is more like a thrush or blackbird. The English robin is unusual in that it's not afraid of humans--it'll stay close to a gardener digging in a backyard in the winter and grab any earthworms the spade turns up. Also, the male sings year-round, not just in mating season. It's very territorial!
Yes; when he says “House Sparrows are slightly larger than Robins” (0:31), he’s referring to the European Robin (Erithacus rubecula), not the American Robin (Turdus migratorius). The European Robin, an Old World chat, is 12.5 to 14 cm (5 to 5.5 in) in length, while the American Robin, a New-World “true thrush,” is twice as big as both the European Robin and the House Sparrow, at about 23 to 28 cm (9.1 to 11.0 in) in length.
I love sparrows! The wonderful thing about birds is that the most common ones like sparrows are just as lovely and funny to watch. Tree sparrows are more common where I am. :)
I love sparrows, they are very underrated in my opinion. We have loads coming to our garden, they're so cheeky and sweet. At the moment they are enjoying suet pellets, and lining their nests with rabbit fur kindly provided my friend. Thank you for your videos, they are great!
Eewww!🤮
The Sparrows provide entertainment as they flutter amongst the branches in front of my Condo, I love the different shades of brown colourings and patterns of their feathers. They should be given more respect, they stick around when other birds go.
@@lloydbligh5601 ,
@@lawrencecollins8999 You can even put hair from your hairbrush in the bushes and birds will use it!
I remember there being 1000's of them about the tenements in Glasgow in the 60's Mostly see them around thick shrubbery these days, a lovely little bird, nothing flashy, but adorable just the same.
Birbs 😊
how did you count them?
@@kahldiss2689 ...The same as you trying to count your brain cells and not finding more than a few dozen.
I live in a tenement in Ibrox, we've got many pairs currently living in a large bush at the back green. I absolutely love these cheeky wee chaps, their song takes the edge off city living. I feed them regularly and provide water to show my appreciation.
I live in Australia, where they're introduced and common in our eastern cities. Anything introduced gets a bad rap here but I've always found them very cute and endearing.
Yeah they're all over the place here in New Zealand but they just seem so cute
I remember seeing them as far west as Bourke NSW..
We had thousands in my SEQld town in the 80's, now there are few if any. The Indian mynas are moving in though.
@@NoGufff Yes, I'm in SEQ too and I remember them being much more common in the past too. Strangely 2 turned up in my yard for the first time in ages just today. Mynas (and Miners even more so) are a menace for little birds.
For an invasive species, the house sparrow is reasonably unthreatening. It eats seeds and grains mostly, and some insects, and it's too small to eat other birds. I don't think it eats eggs.It does outcompete field sparrows in England, though.
I like the fact they will have communial meetings which can be very vocal...mostly in hedges or large shrubs 😆
These vocal little birds are so adorable - I have three that vist my garden everyday and every now and then joined by two others. They come quite close to me. I made sure to leave out plenty of food for them. Those little things are the highlight of my day.
I live in Tokyo with a large roof balcony, and started feeding some with seeds I bought on Amazon. That was 10 years ago and well over 2 dozen come by everyday now.
Ther was quite a shortage of sparrows aroud her for some years because the landowner cut down all the trees . But now this year I have seen a lot more of them . I'm 74 and there were a lot more of them when I was small .
@@Bondfanman n 1959, the Chinese Academy of Sciences looked at the problem from a new angle, and recognized that the war against sparrows was a huge mistake. The following year, the great Mao made a willful decision to stop the fight with sparrows, having found a new enemy - bed bugs.
I hand raised 2 baby sparrows a few years ago, they are really adorable and they would come back and say hi for that entire summer. ❤️
I raised a baby house sparrow before releasing it. I named him Shakespeare and I loved him more than myself
I am in the same position myself. She just started testing her wings. I am so in love with her too. How can a little bird steal our hearts so easily? 😊
Just pull its head off don't get attached nothing lasts forever
@@jennywrenn469 They are incredibly smart and make great pets
I have one now and he will not leave which is fine but goes out side and comes back in and as funny as it sounds he puts himself to bed at 5 ❤
That’s sad if you really loved him more than yourself. You should get help.
Love these sweet little sparrows, I feed them every day and get pleasure watching them feed and squabble among themselves. ❤️. New Zealand
Same here.
Me too !
Watching this video with my Sparrow rescued as a hatchling and now 10 years old. He sleeps on my desk on a tiny blanket as I go though my day doing remote work. He's my good friend.
The cleaning lady and concierge of our apartment house recovered at least one abandoned or injured baby sparrow. For some reason they all wound up with us. The most we could rescue but some had diseases such as heart issues and one girl sparrow had a kidney problem. Birds, or at least small ones like sparrows, have only one kidney. Anyways, such sickly ones we kept and had some for years despite their illnesses (of course they got medication from the vet). We kept them in a very big cage and if there was for some reason no second sparrow in our household, we bought a canary. They got on brilliantly, once both males were singing like mad to the radio (they love music and even talk shows), but the sparrow could not follow the high notes of the canary. It was like Freddy Mercury and Montserrat Cabbale, which had their hit Barcelona at the time. Another sparrow, at another time, loved the Paul McCartney song "Jet". As sparrows tweet "chirp" he thought they sing "chirp" and he shouted out to the song in tune with the chorus. So hilarious. Another sparrow, a girl with kidney problems, loved to play hide and seek. Once I couldn't find her in the kitchen (I let them fly once a day). I moved half the furniture, checked if a window was open and so on. Then I looked at the fruit bowl with lemons and thought, darn, again a rotten lemon in there. Tried to grab it, wasn't it my sparrow. As a girl she was more greyish than brown. Once we were in a taxi with her and she loved the old time "radio" of the taxi driver with all the commotion about their drives. She moved, her cage on my knees, as close as possible to the radio. The taxi driver said "what bird is that, she scares me with watching me". Told him to relax, it's the radio not his driving and that 's an ordinary sparrow.
I just can say that sparrows are lovely birds, very clever, adaptable (day or night doesn't matter to them), love a big family and a rather noisy household and love fun. In a safe environment they can get up to 15 years, in the wild they live only for about 4 - 5 years. There are many different races of sparrows, I think up to 5 or 6, which live either in forests (they are smaller) and also deserts. Their cradle was in Afghanistan. They like to bathe in sand not water. So every of my sparrows had a bath attached to their cage but filled with sand. They need also sand for digestion and eat it with their seeds. Parrots for an example don't need sand. So it's very important to have sand at the bottom of the birdcage which some people don't like as it causes dust. But otherwise they die as they cannot digest their food. They eat seeds, love hemp seeds and poppy seeds most of all, a bit of biscuit crumbs, herbs, tiny bits of fruits, even minced meat (but microscopic amounts) and of course water to drink.
love love love those little fellows so so much, year round always water and a full bird feeder on my small kitchen balcony. I'm very fortunate to have my house next to a huge tree, few smaller ones and a little grass patch with bushes in the courtyard tho downtown. I love my little family group of sparrows although they can be very noisy, hate, and fight a lot. also regular visitors around the water and feeder are blue- and greattits, blackcaps, blackbirds and a very noisy lovely chaffinch. I always have (well, had) raisins for the blackbirds because they love it. blackbirds and tits aren't very shy compared to the other cheeps but I don't approach them anyways. insect mush balls, nuts and seeds are appreciated but the sparrows favourite meal undoubtedly is mixed oats. few years now I look after generations of lovely birds and would be happy as can be - until one day (I never forget because it changed everything) - the pigeons caught wind of the place - now I have a problem and really don't know what to do. they can't access the feeder but bigger birds than sparrows also can't anymore. it's a little tragedy for the city wild life here at my place trying everyday to survive and raise their young 🤷🏻♀️ anyway, THANK YOU VERY MUCH FOR YOUR BIRD VIDEOS, I ENJOY THEM VERY MUCH!
Tons of them in my yard, and they never damage anything. They're so cute snd funny
I've gone short on food for myself in the spring, with spending up to £15 a week on seeds to feed mainly sparrows, but other species. I feel they rely on me and not getting food for them is letting them down. So, it's not uncommon to have up to 30 sparrows in the garden at anyone time. The other thing that is helping the Sparrows is people bought their own homes and eventually the houses went to private landlords with many roofs full of holes now for the Sparrows to nest in.
Never thought I would watch videos like this…..learning all the time…
Well now that you know, make sure to pass it on to someone else, share the knowledge.
Thanks Millie. Hopefully you'll continue to enjoy them :)
I live in Ottawa, Canada, and house sparrows are very common in our urban garden. I learned a lot from your video. Thank you! 😊
The are invasive here. Unfortunately they decimate chickadees, bluebirds, tree swallows and many other less aggressive native species. They trap the less aggressive birds inside the nest cavity and peck them to death, then proceed to build the nest on top of the dead bird(s). Native species do not do this. These are the worst birds on planet earth don't let them nest around your home
I once had a house sparrow live on my porch. They nested in one of my hanging plants and even had a chick. The female laid two eggs but one didn't hatch, the other lived and fledged successfully.
Purr, look at bird bath
Cheerful little birds with a cute, calming chirp to match.
Great video, thanks. I have an intergenerational colony of house sparrows living in my yard in Edmonton. They've colonized the garage eaves, nest boxes we set up, and also assorted sites on our house and the neighbours' - how charming to understand that they have elected to live with us for 11,000 years.
You should see the amount of sparrows that feed in my front garden. I just love watching them from my window
I have a couple of feeders right next to the window that looks out onto my terrace here in London and am writing this watching a father feeding two young fledglings mouth to mouth from food from them just about 2 yards from my seat :) I'd love to learn more about their lives.
We feed them every day of the week. They're are such cute little things😁!!
For me a very under-rated species of bird. I can still hear their call from my childhood in the early 1960's ,wonderful little things they are.
In my local area there was a point where I’d realised I hadn’t seen or heard a house sparrow in about 7-10 years. Fortunately over and after the course of the pandemic I’ve seen more about the town, park, streets and gardens.
They seemed to be everywhere when I was young (in the 80's). Now, they tend to be found only in groups, in certain hedges and bushes, probably close to where some people feed them.
A sparrow had eggs on my porch on a table I dont know if she couldn't hold them or wat but I made a nice little wicker nest an house an hung it on the porch to put them all in an they love it they land right in front of me like they knew I helped them,,,they have 4 happy little babies..😁
Have at least 2 sparrow nests in my roof along with some Starlings.
There's a family on my roof, and loads in the hedges around the house. I watched one bounce a spider off the wall and onto the patio the other day. He then picked it up and went back to the roof. I love them and morning coffee with them is wonderful.
The more the house sparrows are in a region, that's a good sign for the geography as well. That means the air is cleaner, that place has lots of trees, more water in ground, plenty of food around.
By in our house in village, these guys basically make their nest in tiniest spaces in the wall. Never had a problem. It was splendid to hear their chirping in the evening just before the sunset. As a kid that was mesmerizing. This was back 30yrs ago, fortunately the population in my area is also increasing gradually.
I lived in my childhood and youth mostly in urban areas, including subirb, in England. The house sparrows loved the privet hedges that were so common--both to nest in and just to hang out in. I remember hearing them squabbling in the depths of a hedge--quite unseen, just this angry chirping from the depths of the bushes. They are very modest and unfussy in their requirements.
@@gina116 by that definition everything is invasive. It's a Survivorship bias.
They are smart little birds. They started to build inside my house which I objected to. I would shoo them but it didn't deter them too much. I got drastic and fired slingshots toward them whenever they started gathering under the eaves. Never to hit them! They got the message and now we all enjoy the same space without my house becoming a nesting box.
We live in Yorkshire, we have literally tons of Sparrows in our garden and hedges, i love sitting and watching them, we call them our little fat sparrows!
Brilliant..👍
These birds are an invasive species in Canada , I live on Vancouver Island and have worked hard to keep nest boxes for swallows that have come every year for the last 35 years , English sparrows will take over every box and chase out all other small birds if you let them !
It's so surprising to hear. In the UK they aren't really a dominant species.
@@AShotOfWildlife House sparrows, in their native Europe, are kept under control by natural predators not found in North America.
I live in the West of the United States and this is one of my family’s favorite birds to watch. We adore their perky little mating dances in Spring, the way they teach their offspring to use the various feeding stations in our garden throughout Summer and Autumn; it’s fascinating to see them switch to suet mixes in the Winter- certain birds even have favorite suet types, and we are rejoice in Spring when all our favorites are back checking out the nesting material available- we have a corner where we leave ragged bits of clothing, hair clippings from haircuts and other bits that would make for a soft nest.
Thanks for teaching us about our beloved little visitors!
I'm happy to say I see many of these beautiful little birds in my garden every day, I love them 😊❤
I rescued a male sparrow over 7 years ago, he's a little beauty and extremely intelligent. ❤🌹❤
no decline in sparrows in our garden! I live out in the sticks and we have nest boxes and several bird feeders, fat balls and nuts for birds of all types to get stuck into. we also have a huge crows nest in our wash house made of hundreds of twigs and we never disturb them even though it's a hit of an inconvenience😆 we even have a sparrow hawk that visits once and a while and takes a sparrow or 2 but that's nature and we never interfere as it's part of life. there's always a lot of chirping throughout the day and I love it!
Sparrows cheer any one on the greyest day ..March 20th is World Wide Sparrow Day .when we take special note of these small birds .As like as not the 1st bird many of us see .Their decline is a sad fact and as with all birds a reminder that all are special.. 👍
Hey! That's great! Thanks. I love sparrows. And the 20th is just a couple days away! ♥️
Englishmen must love sparrows so much because the sparrows have murdered all the beautiful birds while they weren't looking. Search UA-cam for the videos that show the ture nature if savage English sparrow you love. You can't love them AND all the birds they murder at the same time.
I’ve just returned from touring the Basque region of Spain, also the Castile region and it was wonderful to see so many everywhere! I haven’t seen that many since I was a child.
Cute little birds.
😊..I’m in Hertfordshire and have been feeding birds for many years. I buy seed in bulk now, as so many visit my garden. They seem to wait for me and as soon as they see I’m putting seed out they get extra vocal. There are some that don’t fly away if I’m pottering in the garden. I’m privileged to have lots of sparrows visit, among other birds.
We helped a baby sparrow that fledged the nest too early and the mom would come to feed him every day but the older siblings also helped feed him sometimes as well. Amazing family bonds!
At our previous home, we encouraged House Sparrows and thin-waisted wasps, and we never had to concern ourselves about pest infestations on our plantings. Between them, they got them all.
These little ones are hard workers. I love to watch them. Thank you sir.
My heart 💗 seeing the momma feed her fledgling.
At another place where I used to live I would feed my local flock. Several generations were raised going to feed right on my doorstep. I had a canary so when she would throw seeds and pellets everywhere, I would collect them and spread them outside my door for the house sparrows. The coloring on their feathers went from dull to so rich a beautiful after they had been eating the fortified pellets and seed mix I was putting out for them. The mommas trusted to go feed their chicks so close to my door. One time a couple of fledglings tried to get into my apartment by going through the gap under the door 😅 I looked over to see one leg in and the little heads peeking in as they looked over at me. I had to stop them from getting inside but they got so close.
I've also raised nestlings and to have one of those little feather fluff balls chirp at you for food like you're their momma is truly special. They are a lot of work with the constant feedings though and you better be up by sunrise with their food ready because they will make their hunger known 😅
Great video! There's a nest right outside the sunroom of my apartment here in downtown Milwaukee, Wisconsin, as well as on the fire escape, and they sing all day. I call them my "little buddies" and have wanted to know more about them. So, thanks!
Please don’t encourage them in the US! They are terribly invasive and kill native birds! BUT. Make sure you don’t confuse them with some of our native look a-likes! There are several UA-cam channels that show the differences.
I love these sweet little sparrows..their continuous twittering brightens my day.
Ah, nice to watch a documentation about the sparrow house.
For me these birds have the most will power to survive around our houses and in the world.
Sparrows are one of my favorite types of birds, I am from Cape Town, South Africa and we have loads of Cape sparrows (very similar to house) as well as the common house sparrows. I enjoy watching them in playing around in my garden eating seats and arguing over the bird feeder along with the other birds. They are definitly one 🐦of the cutest types of birds in my opinion🐦
Forgot to mention, I love House Sparrows too! Delightful birds with plenty of character! 😃
Yes😁
Hi I am Andrew from South Africa and me and my wife Candice didn't even know that you get House Sparrows but it a great video and also liked your comment. Hope you had a great Christmas and will have a happy New Year be protected, stay safe, no virus; just angels and may your dreams come true. All the best and stay in touch. Have a special fantastic year ahead .......
I love house sparrows. I cry for the ones who were in my care... i miss them...
My favorite bird. Just fed the ones that come by daily
they are absolutely adorable ❤
Here in America, the House Sparrow is considered an invasive species. Cooper Hawks, Sharp Shinned and Kestrals really go after them. It's usually just a flash then a poof of feathers that drift to the tundra..
We have a bunch of house sparrows that live in this 15 foot arborvitae conical shrub. The other day this greyish hawk with peachish, rusty chest flew feet first into the shrub and beat it with its wings and the sparrows flew out. I’ve never seen anything so “wild” at my house!
@@trishayamada807
That was some sort of accipiter
I used to be a falconer but check this out: ua-cam.com/video/2CFckjfP-1E/v-deo.html
If you have Martin houses they are a pest that take over all the compartments.
@@jjano2320 Yeah, the Sparrow is definitely an invasive species just like the Ring Neck Dove..
@@guysolis5843 Yes, ring necked doves are bastards, they scoff any and all food you put out for smaller species😖
Protect them Feed them build home for them and blessings come to your house 👩👩👧👧
I think they would prefer their own made home. And of course we need to feed them. ✊✊✊
Blessings??? Typical human to expect a reward. Just feed them and appreciate the fact that you're with them....
Sparrow's Are The Cutest Little Bird's In The World! Blessings On ALL Of These Precious Little Birdies.🌺🌺🌺🙏🙏🙏🇨🇦🇮🇱♾️🇺🇲🇺🇲🇺🇲🗽🦅‼️
Who is this handsome soft spoken wildlife enthusiast with the clipped English accent? And why is he just now turning up by my youtube algorithm? We had lots of these birds growing up on our farm in the American midwest. They were everywhere and yet each one seemed just as special as any brightly colored bird.
I love these little guys! I currently have two sets of babies that have just fledged along with a family of robins. They’re so fun to have around! 😎
They are such adorable featherballs!
they destroy the nesting place of any other small rare birds killing their chicks...
You know, for a long period of time in my life, I just thought this is what younger pigeons looked like. For the last few months, I've been seeing birds perched outside the kitchen window and I noticed that sparrows and laughing doves don't fly off when I get close unlike pigeons.
They can become quite tame, although in some parts of the world they are not as common as they used to be unfortunately.
I love Sparrows..❤❤ little feathered angels 😇
I am convinced that they have "guards" protecting the flock.
Yep, they are very intelligent little fellas. I watch them everyday, and the males take turns watching from strategic points, while the other eat, and then they switch turns. I also watched a group of males attacking a pair of ravens that posed a menace to their nests. I was amazed watching how brave these little birds are.
I am privileged to have them nesting in my eaves every year, great video, thank you 👍
They're such noble little birds.
They are so cute ❤️❤️❤️❤️
I was born in 1960 and remember the massive flocks as a child, along with the flocks of sheps, peewits and every garden had its own group of thuggies. Now we seem to have a large amount goldfinches, collared doves and coal tits.
This is the first video I've seen of yours, and of course I've subscribed.
I live in the Philippines and we had a Narra tree on our backyard. It was a tall tree then suddenly one afternoon it was perched by hundreds maybe thousands of House sparrows hahaha our roof was bombarded with poo. After that they always go there on the afternoon and rest till night we had to cut down the tree.
Thank you! So refreshing! I live in Toronto, and Sparrows are the most common bird here, although they were apparently brought by British settlers hundreds of years ago to eat the overwheling insect population. The second most common bird here are Starlings, which are considered native. I never cared much for them as they are very noisy, but their giant flocks are unbelievable.
Thats interesting. Both Sparrows and Starlings are European imports so its surprising to see the difference in opinion about them. I guess its because apparently sparrows in the USA are quite aggressive towards other birds. Here in the UK, they are actually quite a timid species!
Oh I didn't know Starlings weren't native to my area-Ontario. Sparrows get quite active, noisy and bossy here but I wouldn't call them aggressive. Thanks again for a unique video! @@AShotOfWildlife
I love feeding my little backyard sparrows in Southern Alberta, Canada. They are wonderful to watch and bring joy to our life. They are my favorite happy little birds in the dead of winter.
I love to sit by the open window drinking my tea and listening to the birds.
Great video mate! Have been feeding wild bird for about a year now, I was fully convinced I was feeding a bunch of Chickadees, but then realized all of them were house Sparrows. I never was aware about their story, origin and popularity.....great birds, source of so much fun for wife and me, planing to build a few wooden boxes so hopefully they can make a nest...greetings from New Jersey USA!
Please answer. Our cat just dumped one in our living room, I grabbed it, done research and the only thing that comes up is, put it near the nest and wait.. I don't know where it is.
@@dirtydaz8805 then dont touch it! Nothing is needed of you, Nature will take care of it when , where, and how she sees fit. So thanks, but yeah LEAVE IT ALONE.
@The Richest Man In Babylon phuk you talking about? The california bluebird is on the least concern list and its population is increasing. Know your s#$t before you run that mouth kid🤨
I was sitting having lunch with a good friend in 1962. He asked me, "What kind of bird is that"?
"A sparrow", I replied.
He couldn't believe he was looking at a sparrow for this one looked nothing like the very dark birds he knew back in Manchester UK.
I told him they were the same and his home town sparrows were polluted but if you gave them a decent bath, they would look the same.
Sparrows in Australia are a pest because of the damage they do on farms. They ravage seed crops.
They also contribute to fire risk by building their large dry grass nests inside roofs.
I once found a communal sparrow nest inside a roof that was about 1.9 M high by about 3 M wide, they just kept adding to it each year.
So enjoyed this video. I'm in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania in the outskirts of the city actually. But, I've been feeding our little birds for the past 3 (or maybe it's 4 years now....I keep forgetting it's New Year 2024 🤭). I hear most bird watchers want to discourage House Sparrows from their feeders, but not me. I enjoy watching these adorable little birds so much, I've ended up feeding the even from Spring to Auturm, not just Winter. But it's interesting, while I have seen all kinds of birds from Blue Jays, Woodpeckers, Starlings of course and lots of Robins, the 2 birds I always have at my feeders are House Sparrows and lovely Mourning Doves. It's wonderful watching how the Doves & Sparrows actually get along. The Doves get aggressive with one-another at times, but I don't see the Sparrows being aggressive with each other or with the Doves...well...not too often.
So, I enjoyed this video because I wanted to know about House Sparrows & it seems "A Shot of Wildlife" truly covered it all. Thanks so much; this was not just interesting, it was most def. comprehensive. Great Stuff and very WELL DONE! I salute you 🫡.
Thank you so much. I am really glad this video lived up to its expectations and you found out lots more about these birds that visit your garden. I am hoping to one day get across the pond and do a series on American wildlife so maybe I will be able to make videos including some of the other birds you have mentioned there as well. Cheers!
@@AShotOfWildlife 👍🏻 We would look forward to your visit with our wildlife in the USA.
You say sparrows are a bit bigger than robins. Could be true in UK, but here in Western USA the robins are quite a bit bigger. Thanks for the lovely footage about our feathered friends.
That's exactly right. Robins in the USA are much larger and not closely related to the Robins we have here. Cheers
I have many of them in my backyard daily here in California USA. Sometimes I mistaken them to be house Finches. I love them, I feed them and love their noise. I sit and watch them mate or fight over the feed. They’re my amusement!
Sparrows in New Zealand have been affected by a virus and are gradually coming back in numbers. Our mob, perch up waiting until I feed my hens and then come rushing down to eat amongst the hens. I assume this is predator protection. They had several hatches this year, so that was great to see and when feeding their young they go around the eaves looking for spiders. They dust bath on the driveway leaving miniature crop circles 😀The males also have a brown waistcoat.
I love watching them chase beetles. My cats do too. Lol.
love sparrows. like their groupiness.
Thanks Liamd for sharing all the facts about the House Sparrows (Gråsparv in Swedish)! They are very common here in Sweden too.
Greetings and have a good day! // Bertil.