Where I grew up in Germany there was only one kind of sparrow, the common domestic House Sparrow which was ubiquitous and very social - just as they are here - nesting under roof shingles, in ivy growing over fences or houses, in trees and hedges. Sitting in an outdoor cafe you'd always have the company of sparrows picking up crumbs under the table or off your plate if you weren't looking.
However, when I went back to visit my mom and sister in Hamburg last year, I couldn't find any. They seemed to have vanished. I probably wouldn't have noticed it if I hadn't been looking for the Eurasian Tree Sparrow, which in the USA is confined to a small area in the Midwest. Trying to figure it out I did a search on Google and found that the House Sparrow, along with the Starling and the Eurasian Tree Sparrow, had actually been placed on the Red List of endangered birds in the UK. The list cited both long-term and short-term breeding decline, most likely due to loss of agricultural habitat.
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| House Sparrow courting |
Although they have disappeared from the center of many cities, they are still present in most towns and villages. And that's were I eventually found them. I was visiting my cousin's farm to look for the Eurasian Tree Sparrow. The ivy covering the old brick house was swarming with nesting House Sparrows, and the sought after Tree Sparrows were roosting in a tree behind the barn, where they had ready access to grain.
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| Eurasian Tree Sparrow with characteristic chestnut cap and black cheek patch |
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| Eurasian Tree Sparrow chick and parent |
Fall is the time for sparrows after most of the other songbirds have left for their winter quarters. Most of them feed on the ground, in the grass and frequent brushy weedy habitats. It is often difficult to get a good look at them, since the scatter as soon as you approach, fly low over the ground and plunge back into the vegetation
The White-crowned Sparrow is present in VT during their spring and fall migration. They breed in Arctic or alpine tundra. I think they are the most handsome of all our sparrows.
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| Immature White-crowned Sparrow |
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| Immature White-crowned Sparrow |
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| Adult White-crowned Sparrow |
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| The White-throated Sparrow stays with us all year |
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| American Tree Sparrow |
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| American Tree Sparrow showing the characteristic "half and half" beak and the dot on the chest |
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| Immature Swamp Sparrow. At first I thought this was a Lincoln's Sparrow, but was corrected by a more knowledgeable birder. |
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| Adult Swamp Sparrow in post-molt fresh feathers |
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| The Song Sparrow often looks colorless and boring; so I was happy about the vivid colors in this photo |
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| Song Sparrow |
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| Savannah Sparrow with characteristic yellow lores are abundant in our area. |
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| The chipper Chipping Sparrow |
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| Juvenile House Sparrows on their home turf in a barn window |
