House Sparrows

I am ‘working from home this week’. This is not a skive but because I have a virus which I don’t want to spread to the rest of my colleagues and is also making me feel under the weather. I find I am normally more efficient at home due the lack of distractions that are found in the office but today the birds on my feeder are doing a good job of taking my attention from the report I am trying to write.

For the past 2 days I have watched a number of House Sparrows dart backwards and forwards to the feeder and peck frantically at the nuts behind the mesh. From what I can see there is definitely one breeding pair and up to 4 dependent young which are sometimes perched on the feeder but other times are lined up on my terrace rail and screeching whilst they wait to be fed by Mum or Dad.

Other adult House Sparrows are queuing in the branches of the trees behind the terrace, waiting for some space to free up on the feeder so they can also get a slice of the action. Now and again they get impatient and try their luck at getting past this family feeding frenzy and then the occasional fight breaks out. It’s difficult to keep track of who is who.

During the afternoon the sun shines on my terrace and the feeder (when it is shining in Bergen)and I have been able to take some photos of all this action, see my flickr account. The record on the feeder is 6!

According to the RSPB feeding should continue through the summer months as food shortages can still occur and it is important to give the chicks a chance. One thing I did learn today is that peanuts are not the food of choice at this time of year and can do harm to nestlings. If they must be used then should never be put down loose on a table but in a feeder.

House Sparrows, though once common in Europe are now on the decline and the RSPB have put them on their Red list, this being the highest conservation priority and the species needing urgent action. For this reason I am especially happy to have them take over my terrace.

Also seen on this feeder at other times have been Blue Tits, Coal Tits and Great Tits.