RSPB Spotlight Sparrows by Amy-Jane Beer

Author:Amy-Jane Beer
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781472955944
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing
Published: 2019-03-13T16:00:00+00:00

Perfectly at home – House Sparrows seldom nest more than a few metres from human settlements, and actively prefer buildings in which people still live.

Tree Sparrow nest sites

The Tree Sparrow is often more closely associated with trees and hedges than buildings, at least in the British Isles and most of Europe. The dense, thickety growth of Hawthorn (Crataegus monogyna), conifers, Holly (Ilex aquifolium), Wild Privet (Ligustrum vulgare) and Ivy-clad trunks of other tree species are all used quite widely, although usually by lower-status birds – first-time breeders that are excluded from preferential sites by more experienced pairs. In China, however, where House Sparrows do not occur, Tree Sparrows tend to occupy buildings, suggesting their nesting habits in Britain are more a result of competition than preference.

In some parts of the shared range of House and Tree Sparrows in Asia – in particular Turkmenistan, Afghanistan and Pakistan, where Tree Sparrows are resident and House Sparrows are migratory – the roles are reversed and Tree Sparrows nest in buildings. Their presence year-round gives them something of a home advantage, and by the time the normally dominant House Sparrows arrive to breed, they are rebuffed by the smaller species and forced to use more open sites.

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