First Lifer for 2023 - #153 House Sparrow

First Lifer for 2023 - A House Sparrow 

I have not been doing much birding thus far for the year so this local lifer, #153, caught me by surprise.  It presented itself as I was parking my car in a public car park in the lower part of Bridgetown, the island's capital. The bird, a male House Sparrow (Passer domesticus) in breeding plumage, flew into a Neem tree (Azadirachta indica) but was soon flushed by passersby.   It was later heard singing and then reappeared in the same tree where I first saw it.  On both occasions, it was in the company of another bird which I believe to be a female House Sparrow but was unable to make a positive identification.  The fact that a female was spotted on September 30th, at the Bridgetown Port by Ed Massiah added to that thinking. 

House Sparrows are no strangers to our shores with the first confirmed record in 1997, followed by a colonization attempt in 2009 and multiple reports since then, including 2 records in the last 10 years.  This small songbird is said to be one of the most widely distributed birds in the world but it is not a bird of the Americas. It originated in Eurasia and northern Africa, and as the story goes, was introduced in Brooklyn from Europe in 1851 as a method of biological pest control, which it did effectively.  As the population of this sparrow grew it soon spread across the Americas and is now considered a pest itself. Listed as a dangerous invasive species because it competes aggressively with native birds for food and nesting space.  

House Sparrows are about 5.75" in length, about the size of our Barbados Bullfinch (Loxigilla barbadensis). Adult males are mostly reddish brown with a light grayish underside and a prominent black “bib”; their heads are patterned with darker rusty brown and have a gray patch on top. Female and young House Sparrows are streaked brownish-gray overall and have a lighter stripe near their eyes.  I will try to see if the bird that is with this male sparrow is a female and try to get a few more images to share here.  So stay tuned