How to Tell House Sparrows From Other Birds + ID Quiz

[@boopaholic4542]

Just learning about how invasive and awful these birds are. And we're surrounded, so also learning to deter. I'll be rewatching many times since I'm new to identification too. Thanks!

[@nesthollow5159]

I'm glad you're taking action. It's tough to do, but it helps in the long run.

[@lindachubbs1790]

What a lovely tutorial!

[@nesthollow5159]

Thank you! Cheers!

[@johnford7847]

Very nice video - very helpful. Thank you very much.

[@nesthollow5159]

Thank you :)

[@Birdie81364]

I began some serious birding this year and have learned so much from your videos so thank you! I thought I was being invaded with house sparrows and just watched your video again. The birds I have are house finches. I just realized that they have a pattern on the front rather then plain grey and do not have the liner above the eye. Thanks again for your great videos.

[@nesthollow5159]

House finches are probably super numerous right now with juveniles taking wing. That's wonderful! They have a much more cheerful song too if you ever stop to hear one sing in the spring.

[@chunkychen]

Really helpful thanks so much

[@ianmiles2505]

Good work. They deserve protection.

[@smallfuzzymoss]

This is so helpful!

[@justmejo9008]

So helpful 🙏🏼

[@oinkjohnson2871]

Helpful video

[@shannonspage9360]

I have been recently doing sound recordings using the Merlin app to get an idea of what birds I have nesting around my property. Surprisingly no house sparrows or starlings. I did capture audio of the chipping sparrow and song sparrow. There was the house finch which is an invasive species but I don’t think they really cause too many issues for native birds, with the exception of when a brown headed cowbird female mistakenly uses their nests for their egg placement. But not too many people complain when a brown headed cowbird chick doesn’t survive.

[@nesthollow5159]

Those apps are so helpful. A lot of people use Merlin, and everyone highly recommends it. But for some reason, I struggle with that on. So I have been using Birdnet instead, which is from Cornell. But Merlin links with a lot of other programs out there to help collect data about birds. It's a brilliant approach to citizen science and crowdsourcing. So I'd like to get on board with Merlin very soon. For house finches, I guess they're invasive only in certain areas. But I think they're still federally protected overall. And yea, they don't pose a real threat to bluebirds. Upon reading more about them being classified as invasive in certain areas, it seems that the bigger concern is that they carry and transmit diseases. A big and common concern is conjunctivitis from Mycoplasma. I'm glad you don't have any house sparrows popping up on your app. That's a great thing. And the apps will help train your ears so that if you ever do get one, you'll know right away. Great recommendation. And - pairing the app with visual markings, you'll get a solid confirmation that way. You mentioned cowbirds, and I was reading more about their relationship to bison the other night. And it's interesting because they're an animal that has a parasitic relationship among songbirds, but a commensal relationship with cows and bison (benefit from them by eating off their backs, but don't hurt or help them). I just had to laugh because they get labeled as being lazy - and yea riding on bison and eating right off their backs, kind of adds to that impression people get. They have a bad reputation, but when really studying them, they're incredibly interesting because they kind give us insight into the "nature vs. nurture" debate. Despite their babies being raised by other songbirds - and birds usually imprint on their parents, cowbird babies grow up and naturally behave the way a cowbird would. So sorry for rambling. Just really cool stuff you brought up, and it can lead into crazy rabbit holes.

[@MrMrannoying]

I’ve been chasing off this persistent female house sparrow this season from my feeder. I can identify it pretty quickly now after bird watching for about a year and a half. What I check for first and foremost is that light eyebrow above the eye. The other things I look for will be the plain breast. House finches have clear streaks that I’ve grown accustomed to, so I can tell when the house sparrow lacks these. Lastly, Something about its back and the tail feathers look different from house finches. I can’t quite tell what it is yet but I think the feathers tend to have darker areas.

[@nesthollow5159]

I know exactly what you mean about the back feathers. I don't know the right terms, but a house sparrow reminds me of a patchwork quilt or a mosaic. There are more pieces to the pattern and it feels a bit chaotic. A house finch has more coherent striping. I'm definitely using all the wrong terms, but I know what you mean The trouble with the wings of the house sparrow is that they do look a bit similar to the wings of native sparrows. But as you mention, when you've been birdwatching for some time, you just know what you're looking at 😀

[@nunyabiznis817]

My neighborhood has been taken over by the house sparrow in the last 5 years and has chased-out the few insect-eating songbirds we used to have. We still have plenty of songbirds but they only or mostly eat seeds and berries and they don;t eat the kinds of bugs I have in my garden when they do occasional eat insects. Being a gardener who tries to be as organic as possible and use the least amount of chemicals as possible (even organic ones) in order to keep costs down to make it worthwhile, it's no longer worth it for me to have a garden as it would be cheaper just to buy veggies in the store. I have a lot of pests in my garden and they used to be kept in check but not anymore. I don't have the guts to catch birds and kill them and my neighbors don't want to hear about how to deter them from their feeders, so this year will be my last year gardening.

[@nesthollow5159]

That's tough. I'm so sorry. The only other thing you might want to try is encouraging bats. House sparrows and European starlings can't nest in a bat roost box. Encouraging barn swallows can help too, but house sparrows tend to infiltrate their nests. Even though the barm swallows aren't cavity nesters, a nest in a tight rafter is often just as good to a sparrow unfortunately 😕