House Sparrow
Passer domesticus
Songbird · Sparrow family
Year-round
Backyard · Birdhouse · Carport · Feeders
Regular visitor
Throughout our years at House 173
[CONFIRM PHOTO DATE]
I was photographing an old birdhouse when one of our neighborhood sparrows decided to join the picture. Apparently, Sparry thought it needed a bird. He wasn't wrong.
House Sparrows have been our little feathered neighbors for as long as we've lived at 173. We suspect they nest in the birdhouse, although we give them plenty of space. We know they nest among the spare fence pickets stored in the carport rafters. Apparently, accommodations are plentiful.
From very late fall until mid-spring, we put out birdseed for them and their many feathered neighbors. Sometimes there's a bully at the feeders; other times everybody gets along. We can spend hours watching this little menagerie of joy from the breakfast nook.
And then there's the cheerful chirping that fills the yard. Bird music. Eine kleine Birdmusik.
They're common little birds, I suppose. But to us, they're spectacular. Extraordinarily spectacular.