House Sparrow

.intruduction

.range in colorado

.intruduction to the us

.deit and foraging

.glossery

.sorces

introduction

The House Sparrow is a naturalized species found throughout six of the seven continents. It is one of the most common species in Colorado. As the name suggests, its range rarely exceeds residential areas. Unfortunately, these birds take up nesting spots for other birds like house finches.

range in colorado

House sparrows came to Colorado around the early to middle nineteen-hundreds. One of the oldest notes I found was from 1954 which seemed to suggest that they had been moving into Colorado, specifically in Costilla and Alamosa counties and surrounding counties. This means they first came in from the southern portion of CO and then spread around.

introduction to the us

between the fall of 1851 to the spring of 1852, 100 individuals were released in Brooklyn, NY. After this initial release, several followed around Salt Lake, UT, and San Francisco, CA. After it got released it rapidly expanded into the rest of N.America. As of 2023, they have expanded to 6 of the 7 continents, becoming one of the most populous birds in the world.

diet and foraging

diet

The average House Sparrows diet consists of Cereal grains (corn, oats, wheat, sorghum) and a selection of insects, esspecially larvey.

foraging

Like most sparrows, they forage on the ground for seeds and insects. Of course, nesting near houses means they eat a lot by feeders.

breeding and nesting

House Sparrows start looking for nests and pairing up around the start of April. In the middle of April, they start building the nest. More data will come later about the further parts of the process.

Glossary

naturalized- An invasive species becomes established generations after that species was introduced. A great example of this is the house sparrow, which is now found everywhere across the US.

Foraging- the way animals find/eat food.

populous- an organism having a large population and in the area where its found its densely populated.

sorces

General information on house sparrows- https://birdsoftheworld.org/bow/species/houspa/cur/introduction

Information on when house sparrows were first introduced- https://sora.unm.edu/sites/default/files/journals/condor/v061n01/p0056-p0057.pdf

Male House Sparrow(above)