House Sparrows

This young House Sparrow was hanging out with a whole pile of brothers and sisters at the Calgary Zoo when I visited there a few days ago. Anybody else having a problem with adding tags the past week? I've added tags to quite a few images, only to have them not appear. Getting a little tired of having to type them all in again. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/House_Sparrow

One of the many little House Sparrows that are everywhere at the Calgary Zoo. They know that if they hang around one of those machines that dispense some seed if you put in 25c, they will sooner or later get fed. There is competition for this seed between the Sparrows and the Mallards. This time, I remembered to take a couple of coins with me! Nice blue sky - was a beautiful day today. Saturday is supposed to get a high of -23C.

Quite a handsome little fellow, despite being just a lowly, and not very popular, House Sparrow!

Photographed this young, male House Sparrow when I visited the Calgary Zoo on September 1st. Most of my House Sparrow photos end up being taken at the Zoo : ) I'm posting really early today, as I woke up an hour too early for today's Bird Count way south of Calgary, around Nanton, and couldn't get back to sleep. So, it will feel like a really long day, after about an hour and a half's sleep! A good thing I don't have to drive. I think this will be my last Christmas Bird Count this winter, unless I decide to do one more.

"Just" a little male House Sparrow!

A juvenile House Sparrow seen at the Calgary Zoo on 30th September 2011. The autumn leaf colours in the background gave me a different kind of photo from most of my House Sparrow photos.

Another House Sparrow to add to my endless accumulation of Sparrow images, LOL! This male was down at the Zoo today, perched briefly in my favourite Sparrow spot. For an "everyday" little bird, a House Sparrow has beautiful feathers when you see them in detail!

Though House Sparrows tend not to be popular little birds, you have to admit that they are quite attractive. I love these little birds, with their beautifully patterned feathers. This male was actually down at the Calgary Zoo yesterday (flying freely, of course!) and I was quite pleased with this backlit (?) shot. "House Sparrows are not closely related to the other North American sparrows: they belong to the family of Old World sparrows (Passeridae)." From Birds of Alberta by Chris Fisher and John Acorn.

Friend, Sue, very kindly invited me to go along with her a few days ago when she did her Mountain Bluebird route just west of the city. The majority of the boxes had Tree Swallows nesting in them, but some were occupied by Bluebirds. A few boxes were completely empty, some had a nest, some had a nest with eggs, some had a nest with a tight little pile of babies, and a couple had an adult Tree Swallow along with the eggs. And one box contained a nest of House Sparrow eggs, which are cream, white, gray or greenish, with irregular brown speckles. This one was being held by Kristin. It takes quite a bit of time to check and record all these boxes, and I respect all those who volunteer to have a route of their own. The House Sparrow nest was removed from the box as Mountain Bluebirds need as much human help as possible in order to protect their numbers.