The House Sparrow is very common inside the cities and large towns of Nova Scotia. Although not as numerous as they once were, they are still one of the most abundant birds in the province, although some towns are almost devoid of them. Everyone has seen House Sparrows, they are the flocks of little brown birds that hang around fast food outlets, parks, farm yards and just about anywhere else they can receive free handouts.

If you watch the nesting and feeding behaviour of the House Sparrow, you will notice many actions that are not typical of members of the sparrow family. That is because the House Sparrow is not really a sparrow, we just call them sparrows as they look much like our true sparrows. The House Sparrow is actually a member of the Weaverbird family, a large family of birds which have no close relatives but behave like Finches in many ways.

Like our true sparrows, at a distance the House Sparrow gives the impression of being brown overall. Upon closer inspection, the male can be recognized by its black bib which covers its throat and upper chest, and by the top of its head which is a dull grey. The females are identified by the fact that both their undersides and the top of their head are streakless and they show a wide, light (not white) stripe above their eyes.

At one time the House Sparrow was widely known as the English Sparrow as it was introduced to North America from Britain. It is now mostly referred to as the House Sparrow, so named because of its habit of living close to man and building its nests in bird houses. House Sparrows are a very intelligent, aggressive species that have led to the decline of many of our native species (such as the Eastern Bluebird) since their introduction in the 1800's. For this reason many backyard birders will try to even the odds by placing out bird houses that are designed for specific native species and will not appeal to the House Sparrow.

If House Sparrows do not really interest you, you may still want to take the occasional look through the flocks you encounter during the winter months. At that time of the year, especially in December, a few of the flocks in the province have a Dickcissel travelling with them, a rare visitor from the west.