After all the usual things to be thankful for, a two-fisted birdwatcher on this cold gray Midwest morning is thankful for a seed feeder dangling outside the kitchen window. And the crazy action it stirred up.
It’s given food for thought…as well as food for the birds of Thanksgiving. Which are…bear with us on this—common House Sparrows.
Nothing special to look at. Drab, brownish gray, few interesting splotches of pattern… small… and, for sure “common.” In fact, they’re the most common birds in the world!
They originated somewhere in Eurasia. Got “introduced” to New York in the 1850s, then, bam, within a blink they’re found from Canada to Panama and everywhere in between. Especially outside the kitchen window scarfing down seeds and making woodpeckers and jays wait for a turn.
Today, within hours, a ravening flock of common House Sparrows emptied a full feeder. This is a clue to their rapid success in America and everyplace else where these born opportunists have spread, or been introduced, including New Zealand!
House Sparrows—by whatever quirk of fate—are super adapted to living side-by-side with humans. They love our food scraps and our buildings where they find nesting places that other birds would disdain. They go where we go, live where we live, and like it.
Maybe that’s why we should be thankful. But wait. Thankful for a drab and common little bird? Not a flashy raptor, colorful jay, exotic tanager or a once-in-a lifetime “accidental” blown around the world for life-listers and life-lusters to drool over?
No, nothing like that. Maybe we should be thankful that at least one species of bird actually likes us. Better yet, maybe the subject of our thankfulness isn’t something to dwell upon. Instead, let’s turn the focus onto the common House Sparrow (for a change) and think about what IT’S thankful for.
The answer is kind of flattering. Us.
