Sunday, July 24, 2011

Yardfull of sparrows...



I can recognize the male English or house sparrow, but other than that, I'm lost...no wonder people call them LBBs!  I think most of these are probably female or immature house sparrows, though...

He house sparrow is not a true sparrow, and not native to the US; another of those birds imported by some well-meaning romantic a hundred years ago or so, I believe...

You can year their songs and chatter sounds (as well as the crazed flock calls!) here and read more about them here..

11 comments:

  1. My girls love to id birds, but the sparrows confound us, too. Love your sketches! I'm awfully fond of the winged visitors in my back yard!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Thank you, sweetie! It IS fun to watch them, especially as the fully grown and able to care for themselves juveniles are still waggling their wings, begging to be fed!

    ReplyDelete
  3. We have many of these at our feeder...your sketches are simply lovely!! I'm so enjoying having "Sketching in Nature" on my blog list...there's always something wonderful popping up!

    ReplyDelete
  4. Ah, don't they just make our lives so interesting Kate! Lovely sketch showing them busily flitting around, very confusing when one wants to know exactly what they are!

    ReplyDelete
  5. I wish I could love these birds like I love your work, Kate! But they've killed baby chickadees in my backyard and threaten the bluebirds who love to nest here, too, so they are on my un-welcome list I'm afraid. Like you I can tell the males from other sparrows, but not the females. Love that little one in the lower right corner of your sketch, though!!

    ReplyDelete
  6. Really, Mary! I know cowbirds do things like that, but sparrows I didn't know!

    ReplyDelete
  7. I too have a large flock of sparrows that I greatly enjoy. I think the head detail with the eye stripe could be a chipping sparrow. They are much finer in build than the common house sparrow, and in my experience are quite a bit less spooky by nature.

    ReplyDelete
  8. I thought that's what that one might be, Judy, thanks...

    ReplyDelete
  9. Your sparrows are so full of life. I can almost hear them chittering.

    ReplyDelete
  10. What great sparrow shapes, too! The composition and bird movements just draw me right in to this page. Love those browns and blues, too. :)

    ReplyDelete
  11. Thank you, you two...I really love these little energetic creatures.

    ReplyDelete

We'd love to hear from you, your questions, comments, observations! Please feel free to comment, feedback is important to us.