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Feeding babies to the babies
Jun. 18th, 2016 11:27 am
A common grackle caught and killed a fledgling house sparrow, brought it to our yard to dismember and feed it to its own chick.
A common grackle caught and killed a fledgling house sparrow, brought it to our yard to dismember and feed it to its own chick.
280 days of Urbpandemonium #4
Mar. 26th, 2015 06:09 pm
This male house sparrow Passer domesticus was busily engaged in building a nest and guarding his territory. Being a house sparrow, the territory was the corner of a building, and the nest was tucked into a hollow in the construction of the roof. These birds have been nesting alongside humans since just about the invention of western civilization 10,000 years ago in the fertile crescent. When Europeans colonized parts of the world untouched by this species, they made it their business to import them. As a result, the house sparrow is the most numerous and widespread songbird on the planet, often at the expense of native species. The only rival for this title is the European starling, whose lurid story will be told in a later post.
3:00 snapshot #957: "Life at Home."
Apr. 19th, 2012 09:04 pm
Come to think of it, "Life at Home" might be a good alternate title for this blog, since I'm somewhat less urban than I once was and rather less of a pantheist as well. Then again, it's probably in use by 500 Granny Bloggers.
( Life at Home )
Someone (probably a house sparrow) built a nest (out of mostly emu feathers) in this ventilation motor.
House Sparrow Regret and other topics
Apr. 25th, 2010 08:53 amThe worst part of Sunday is that feeling that you haven't quite done everything you need to get done before work starts again and "free time" is once again whatever you can squeeze in between what you have to do every day no exception, when you are already bone tired from work and want to just mess around, like you did all Sunday. In that spirit, I shall procrastinate by reposting more "tweets of old."
WANTED at once: 500 skunk hides. KY1909
A flock of birds, miles in length, obscured the heavens like a dark cloud. Their noise was like the rush of a mighty wind. AL1887
The man, divested of his clothing and attempting to eat grass, gave an "open air" performance before being arrested.PA1904
(Did the SIM program start that long ago?)
A small rat terrier, his two right legs injured, ran past the depot on his two left legs, making very good time. NY1883
Noun LeBlue died Tuesday evening at 8 o’clock. The faith doctors asserted that he had a live snake inside of him. LA1909
English sparrows may now be killed within the city limits by any means, except firearms. Two cents per head.DC1883
Dennis Dineen is suing the ASPCA for importing sparrows which made havoc with his early vegetables last year.QC1882
A bright little lad inquired if there is a bounty on killing crows. His countenance fell upon being told there was not. PA1891
A bevy of howling dogs make the nights hideous in our town. Revenge with a double barreled shot gun would be fully justified. KS1890
The English sparrows drive away song birds. Let the boys shoot them; they make a fine pot-pie. NC1893
Music can no longer be played in Austin saloons. TX1901
(Not strictly urban nature related, but shocking nonetheless!)
The carrier pigeons were not turned loose for their long flight to Colorado due to the hazy atmosphere. MO1909
We should quit our waste of fuel and hunt for some substitute for coal,wood and oil, which are going to give out. CA1900
Free roaming cattle, mules, sheep, goats, horses, jacks and jennetts are now prohibited within Arlington city limits. TX1901
Mr. Chas. H. Junkins has gone out of the duck business, having disposed of his flock to John L. Hatch. ME1892
An old lady, about 50 years old, was attacked by an infuriated steer and tossed into the gutter. MO1875
A turtle was taken from the St. John’s River with the Spanish coat-of-arms and the date 1700 engraved upon his back. AL1880
WANTED at once: 500 skunk hides. KY1909
A flock of birds, miles in length, obscured the heavens like a dark cloud. Their noise was like the rush of a mighty wind. AL1887
The man, divested of his clothing and attempting to eat grass, gave an "open air" performance before being arrested.PA1904
(Did the SIM program start that long ago?)
A small rat terrier, his two right legs injured, ran past the depot on his two left legs, making very good time. NY1883
Noun LeBlue died Tuesday evening at 8 o’clock. The faith doctors asserted that he had a live snake inside of him. LA1909
English sparrows may now be killed within the city limits by any means, except firearms. Two cents per head.DC1883
Dennis Dineen is suing the ASPCA for importing sparrows which made havoc with his early vegetables last year.QC1882
A bright little lad inquired if there is a bounty on killing crows. His countenance fell upon being told there was not. PA1891
A bevy of howling dogs make the nights hideous in our town. Revenge with a double barreled shot gun would be fully justified. KS1890
The English sparrows drive away song birds. Let the boys shoot them; they make a fine pot-pie. NC1893
Music can no longer be played in Austin saloons. TX1901
(Not strictly urban nature related, but shocking nonetheless!)
The carrier pigeons were not turned loose for their long flight to Colorado due to the hazy atmosphere. MO1909
We should quit our waste of fuel and hunt for some substitute for coal,wood and oil, which are going to give out. CA1900
Free roaming cattle, mules, sheep, goats, horses, jacks and jennetts are now prohibited within Arlington city limits. TX1901
Mr. Chas. H. Junkins has gone out of the duck business, having disposed of his flock to John L. Hatch. ME1892
An old lady, about 50 years old, was attacked by an infuriated steer and tossed into the gutter. MO1875
A turtle was taken from the St. John’s River with the Spanish coat-of-arms and the date 1700 engraved upon his back. AL1880
Urban Nature Pictures day 10
Jan. 10th, 2010 03:33 pm
For the second time in a couple months, an unknown person has left a box of pastries on the sidewalk in front of where I live. House sparrows are enjoying the empty calories.
Random life update
Mar. 1st, 2009 10:41 amThe house sparrow chatter outside makes it sound like it's a beautiful warm spring day. In fact we're getting our traditional March First snowstorm, first of two parts. Today it's light and fluffy but sticking. Tomorrow it's supposed to pile up to nearly a foot. I guess my Texan coworker will get her chance to go sledding after all.
Life has been interesting, maybe a little too interesting. I haven't really posted about it on livejournal since my mom died; I've been going a little bonkers on facebook, where people know me as me, and not as The Urban Pantheist. There I feel a little better about posting music videos and trading funny insults with old friends.
I took a gun safety course yesterday, and fired a real gun for the first time in my life. I can see where people think that's fun. I'd like to go back to the range and try shooting with a little more distance--I shot the hell out of the target at 15 feet, but that's just outside of point blank, really. Being in a gun club in Massachusetts was interesting. The instructor and much of the club staff are clearly in the "liberals want to take my guns" camp. And they kind of have a point, but they aren't going to convince many liberals that there's anything wrong with that, with their wide-eyed tinfoil hat approach to the issue.
The zoo has an annual film festival, composed of 10 minute movies made by staff. I went last year and it was really fun, with movies ranging from painfully amateurish to charmingly amateurish. This year I was asked to emcee the event. I agreed, but I really have no idea what I'm going to do. Some people want me to be funny, but I think the organizers just want someone who doesn't think they have to put on a show. Last years' emcee changed his costume four or five times, and clearly thought this was funny.
I also agreed to be on a committee to help plan a zoo trivia night, and zoo movie night (where we show hollywood movies in the zoo for staff to enjoy). So far the increased stress of this is mild, but as the events get closer, I can tell they will take a toll.
All this stuff is happening in the next several weeks. With the spring months, peoples' calendars thaw out, and tons of events come splashing out everywhere. Also in April I'll be teaching a Pest Control Class, starting the stable fly and mosquito control programs, and going on vacation for a week. I know the vacation is the good part, but it's hard not to see it as a week that just disappears from the calendar while events fill up all around it. After that is a spring Mushroom class, and I really should rejoin the mycology society so that I can brush up on mushrooms and actually sound like I know something.
And I haven't run an urban nature walk in months, owing to family stuff and hatred of winter. Now I'd really like to bring the group to Dane Park but it would best if I could find someone who knows a lot about geology to help guide us through "terranes" and the continent of Avalon and such. Anyone know a geologist who would like to help?
Then it's summer, and I'd really like to not have anything planned for it, but I also would like to get out and enjoy what could be my last summer in New England for a while. Oh, and there's a distinct possibility that we could move to another unit in our building in the summer, and have our current unit renovated.
Time to stop volunteering to do things, I think.
(also somewhere in there Maggie will have her second surgery, we'll go to vermont, my dad and I will go overseas, and then it's fall)
Life has been interesting, maybe a little too interesting. I haven't really posted about it on livejournal since my mom died; I've been going a little bonkers on facebook, where people know me as me, and not as The Urban Pantheist. There I feel a little better about posting music videos and trading funny insults with old friends.
I took a gun safety course yesterday, and fired a real gun for the first time in my life. I can see where people think that's fun. I'd like to go back to the range and try shooting with a little more distance--I shot the hell out of the target at 15 feet, but that's just outside of point blank, really. Being in a gun club in Massachusetts was interesting. The instructor and much of the club staff are clearly in the "liberals want to take my guns" camp. And they kind of have a point, but they aren't going to convince many liberals that there's anything wrong with that, with their wide-eyed tinfoil hat approach to the issue.
The zoo has an annual film festival, composed of 10 minute movies made by staff. I went last year and it was really fun, with movies ranging from painfully amateurish to charmingly amateurish. This year I was asked to emcee the event. I agreed, but I really have no idea what I'm going to do. Some people want me to be funny, but I think the organizers just want someone who doesn't think they have to put on a show. Last years' emcee changed his costume four or five times, and clearly thought this was funny.
I also agreed to be on a committee to help plan a zoo trivia night, and zoo movie night (where we show hollywood movies in the zoo for staff to enjoy). So far the increased stress of this is mild, but as the events get closer, I can tell they will take a toll.
All this stuff is happening in the next several weeks. With the spring months, peoples' calendars thaw out, and tons of events come splashing out everywhere. Also in April I'll be teaching a Pest Control Class, starting the stable fly and mosquito control programs, and going on vacation for a week. I know the vacation is the good part, but it's hard not to see it as a week that just disappears from the calendar while events fill up all around it. After that is a spring Mushroom class, and I really should rejoin the mycology society so that I can brush up on mushrooms and actually sound like I know something.
And I haven't run an urban nature walk in months, owing to family stuff and hatred of winter. Now I'd really like to bring the group to Dane Park but it would best if I could find someone who knows a lot about geology to help guide us through "terranes" and the continent of Avalon and such. Anyone know a geologist who would like to help?
Then it's summer, and I'd really like to not have anything planned for it, but I also would like to get out and enjoy what could be my last summer in New England for a while. Oh, and there's a distinct possibility that we could move to another unit in our building in the summer, and have our current unit renovated.
Time to stop volunteering to do things, I think.
(also somewhere in there Maggie will have her second surgery, we'll go to vermont, my dad and I will go overseas, and then it's fall)
Tags:
Town dog walk
Dec. 16th, 2007 06:09 pm
Mallards and house sparrows visiting my neighbor's birdfeeders during today's Nor'easter.
( a few more )
On this day in 365 Urban Species: Northern catalpa, although, according to an anonymous commenter, I actually depicted southern catalpa.
Tags:
What "omnivore" really means
Feb. 26th, 2007 01:38 pm
found on lj image search, on some russian person's journal. anyone know the original source? It looks like an eastern gray squirrel and a house sparrow to me.
365 Urban Species. #055: House Sparrow
Feb. 24th, 2006 06:21 pm
Urban species #055: House sparrow Passer domesticus
The house sparrow has probably been an urban bird longer than any other. It is now the most widely distributed songbird, found nearly world-wide (including isolated spots like the Galapagos, and Easter Island). The house sparrow has begun to speciate, and each region of the world where it occurs has a house sparrow that is very slightly different from the others, but distinct.
This bird, like the pigeon, had the good fortune to be native to the area where agriculture was invented, in Northern Africa. This bold granivorous bird found that its bipedal primate neighbors were growing seed-producing grasses and weeds in massive amounts. The house sparrow began an association that has continued for thousands of years. As grain-growing humans spread, the sparrow followed. Surpluses in grain made it possible for huge numbers of people to settle together, in cities. Though we don't think about it much today, until the last 100 years,cities ran on horse and ox power. Horses and oxen run on grain, and so the house sparrow was happy to adapt to an urban lifestyle.
When they reached the British Isles, the bird acquired the name "English sparrow," and bore some of that people's national pride. For this reason, as well as the misguided belief that sparrows help control crop pests (they do eat some pest invertebrates--insect larvae--during the nesting season, but they are more likely to feed on the crops themselves) these birds were brought to the many places that the English colonized. Passer domesticus, with several thousand years of practice existing in a human-altered ecosystem, now outcompete native birds in and around cities on six of seven continents. They still favor grain, but have adapted to survive on nearly any edible scraps available.
House sparrows are not closely related to North American sparrows, but are in a group called African weaver finches. These birds weave elaborate oriole-like nests, but house sparrows gave that up for simple tree, ledge, or cavity nests. They can nest nearly anywhere that provides a bit of shelter. Electric signs, air conditioners, heating vents, abandoned buildings, and all manner of urban nooks can suit them. They have been known to evict other birds from nest holes, killing the eggs or nestlings therein.
House sparrows will make use of bird feeders, and if allowed to, will dominate them, preventing other birds from feeding. They have been observed picking insects from the grills of vehicles at truck stops, and entering food stores to sample spills in the aisles. Pest control companies and poultry farmers are kept busy devising sparrow-exclusion techniques. But since the mid 1800's, the genie has been out of the bottle: house sparrows will probably be an urban species for as long as there will be cities.
( Read more... )
