Birds

Old World Sparrow

House sparrows were introduced to eastern Australia from Britain between 1863 and 1870 according to Birds In Backyards. (This is another bird destroyed on sight in Western Australia.)  Sparrows are large finches. They breed all year round, concentrating on Spring and Summer. Male and Female bond for life.

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I’ve just read about the Eurasian Tree Sparrow. On introduction, it never spread like the house sparrow and is confined to southern New South Wales and Central Victoria. I think I’ve seen them here, too.

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Thanks for looking.

Do have a great weekend.  🙂

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8 thoughts on “Old World Sparrow”

  1. We had these little fellas by the dozens in Southern Ontario. Can’t say that I’ve seen any this far north, now that we’ve moved to Cobalt.

    I suppose that the birds were caged and brought over deliberately?

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  2. sue ouzounis says:

    I wonder why they bought sparrows over. It’s not as if they would make a good lunch (doesn’t matter what you add you would still be hungry). They don’t seem to fulfil any purpose, unless someone had a breeding pair as pets and decided they didn’t want to leave them behind.
    Just look at their cute faces, how could you destroy one of Mother Nature’s creations for no reason.

    Liked by 1 person

    • I had a look about the internet and it seems they were probably introduced because they ate a lot of insects and liked to be around people. Historical documents reveal that the first ones actually came from India in 1862 (because the sea voyage was shorter) and so our sparrows might be a mix of both British and Indian ones.

      Elizabeth Raffald (1769) The Experienced English Housekeeper
      Sparrow Dumplings
      Mix half a pint of good milk with three eggs, a little salt, and as much flour as will make a thick batter. Put a lump of butter rolled in pepper and salt in every sparrow, mix them in the batter and tie them in a cloth, boil them one hour and a half. pour melted butter over them and serve it up.

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  3. sue ouzounis says:

    1 1/2 hours is a long time. She doesn’t say anything about taking the feathers off. Thanks Mrs. Raffald but no thanks. Maybe make a good replacement to KFC (KFS) they tried rabbit (actually not bad, even though there were some strange shapes under the coating stuff).
    Maybe the Indian ones were from England in the first place

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  4. sue ouzounis says:

    Apparently there was rabbit. If I remember correctly they were taken to court. Don’t remember the outcome. Actually I think the rabbit was more tender. I asked for a breast piece the other day and got a chunk, not a whole breast.
    A store in Bell St., Preston got sued. A customer had a coated/battered mouse in their take away. Guy lost his franchise and the whole place we redone before a new person took over.

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