House Sparrows: Words in Their Defense

Are Sparrows Undesirable?
In parts of the United States where there are bluebird and purple martin populations, people would answer with a resounding "yes!" They are despised in those areas because they are a threat to successful proliferation of those songbirds.

In Texas, The Texas Bluebird Society recommends that actions be taken against sparrows. However, after discussing the sparrow threat to bluebirds with Burr Williams, Executive Director of Sibley Nature Center, I have learned that we don't get many bluebirds here in Midland, Texas. They live mostly in the far eastern and in the far western parts of Texas. Bluebirds come here in small numbers in the winter and therefore they do not nest locally. The sparrows and the blue birds do not compete for the same food.

If You Want to Discourage Them
If you want to encourage goldfinches and house finches, which do compete with sparrows for food, and draw sparrows away from your bird feeders, Burr Williams recommends feeding the sparrows out back, in the alley. You can give the goldfinches another edge by offering sunflower and/or safflower seeds, which sparrows do not prefer.

If You Feed Them, Will They Spread to Other Areas of Texas?
I don't have a firm answer for this question. You will have to judge the impact of encouraging sparrows for yourself.

According to extension.org, "Sparrows do not migrate. Studies have shown that 90% of the adults will stay within a radius of 1 1/4 miles (2 km) during the nesting period. Exceptions occur when the young set up new territories. Flocks of juveniles and nonbreeding adults will move 4 to 5 miles (6 to 8 km) from nesting sites to seasonal feeding areas."

Sparrows have spread widely in the United States since they were first introduced in New York in the 1800's. They are now found all over the United States and are now the most common of our songbirds.

I have fed sparrows regularly over the last 20 years. I have not noticed an increase in their numbers in my neighborhood. In fact, at least at my feeding station, they sort of get crowded out by the doves that come to feed.

Words in Their Defense
As part of their advertising, websites that sell sparrow traps cite sparrows as carriers of disease, including West Nile. I spoke with Kathy Parker in the Zoonosis Control Branch of the Texas Department of State Health Services (TDSHS) here in Midland. I asked whether the TDSHS has any official position regarding the house sparrow and dangers it might pose. Her response was that the TDSHS takes no position with regard to any special risks to public health posed by house sparrows. She informed me that sparrows are not a primary concern for West Nile and that crows and ravens and other bird species have greater involvement with this disease. She also reassured me that sparrows do not spread the virus. Mosquitoes are the culprit in spreading the virus and controlling the mosquito population is the main focus in preventing its spread. I visited the department's web page, West Nile Virus in Texas, and discovered that there have been no reported human fatalities in Texas in 2008.

I also talked to Kelly Edmiston, who is an information specialist at Texas Parks & Wildlife Department (TPWD) in Austin, Texas. I asked Mr. Edmiston about the TPWD position on sparrows. He said that since sparrows are not native to Texas, they are not protected from harm by Texas law but neither has TPWD made recommendations for their control or destruction. Mr. Edmiston said that if TPWD is contacted by any person regarding an orphaned or injured sparrow, it is treated the same as any other bird that needs rehabilitation.

Sparrows I Have Known Personally
My appreciation for sparrows deepened after raising an orphaned baby (we named her Little Girl) this last spring. When she was old enough, and I was sure that she could fly and perch properly, I acclimated her to the conditions in my yard and then released her on May 28, 2008. Her tail was "chewed" up from flittering around the cage and that made it easy for me to recognize her at the feeding table. I put out food, especially for her, four times daily at first and then tapered to three times daily in the last month or so. My husband and I have watched her come to feed regularly for three months. Her tail recently began to regenerate and maybe that has caused us to be unable to recognize her. We are sad to have lost track of her for the past five or six days.

There is another sparrow we can recognize easily. He has come to our feeding station regularly for at least the last two years and we have named him Chester. He is a male with a deformed left leg (it is bent completely backward about ¼ inch above his foot). He uses it like a crutch and seems to do fine. He is a little less aggressive than the other birds in competing for the food we put out. He usually stays more on the periphery and gets the stray seeds but sometimes gets into the center of the birds that are feeding. He always seems to get enough and we having enjoyed knowing him.

We have been able to identify, and have named and enjoyed, other sparrows temporarily based on feather irregularities but since their feathers grow and change over time, we cannot follow them indefinitely.

My Conclusions Regarding Sparrows
Steve Eno, Bluebird Box , writes "Only at the insistence of man did the House Sparrow make its way across the Atlantic Ocean to the United States." Just for being themselves, and because of human actions, they must now be destroyed in great numbers in many areas of the United States in order to protect our native songbirds.

My love for birds is universal. I enjoy watching sparrows and feeding them and I enjoy their cheerful songs. They are intelligent little birds and although they are not colorful, I think they are pretty.

I would have to take a different approach if I witnessed the loss of precious bluebirds and purple martins in my area, but having been one baby sparrow's surrogate mother, I can't help but love them. I plan to continue caring for them just like I would any other bird. I can find no evidence of a specific threat they pose in the Midland Basin of Texas.

SOURCES:
Pauline Tom, "TEXAS BLUES. The Newsletter of the Texas Bluebird Society, Volume 1 Issue 2-April/May, 2002." Texas Bluebird Society.
Personal telephone interview on September 5, 2008 with Burr Williams, Executive Director, Sibley Nature Center, Midland, Texas
William D. Fitzwater, "House Sparrows." Extension.
Personal telephone interview on September 5, 2008 with Kathy Parker, Zoonosis Control Branch, Texas Department of State Health Services, Midland, Texas.
Personal telephone interview on September 5, 2008 with Kelly Edmiston, Texas Parks & Wildlife Department, Austin, Texas.
Steve Eno, "House Sparrows." Audobon Society of Omaha.