Shortly after buying The Wild Bird I noticed a small flock of House Sparrows (HOSP) hanging around outside the door.  At first, I started feeding them any seed that had spilled in the shop.  Soon I was tossing out seed several times each day.  It got to where the sparrows would recognize my truck and meet me at the door each morning.

Last week I was doing some research and ran across some information on HOSP.  I knew they are an introduced species but was not aware of the harm they inflict on local birds.  The HOSP can be a cavity nester and will readily take a nest from another bird.  The sparrow may break any existing eggs and will also kill nestlings as well as the adult parent birds.  Often a nesting bird will be out gathering food only to return and find that a HOSP is building right over the top of their established nest and eggs.

Some people promote using traps in an effort to eradicate the HOSP.  That seems a bit harsh to me and is not an idea I can support.  However, I also do not like the idea of making life easy for HOSP when they are such a destructive non-native species.  So, as much as it hurts when I see them staring at me through the shop's door, I have decided to no longer feed HOSP.

 

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