I was asked why I like House Sparrows.

I like their sociability. Social animals are always more interesting than
asocial animals. My place seems to be able to support 4 or 5 breeding pairs
which grow into a flock of 15-20 by winter. By spring, numbers are usually
back down to about 10 adults. I don't provide any food and have no near
neighbors, so they must live on whatever they can forage. They travel
around my 2-acre yard in a chatty, quarrelsome flock.

I am not a fan of introduced species. I have my husband shoot any fox
squirrel that appears in the yard. On the other hand, once a species is
firmly established, it seems more logical to try to change the things that
give the exotic a habitat advantage rather than hang on to useless dislike.
I can still keep the fox squirrels in check. They are not as mobile as
birds. (Also the person that was trapping and releasing in our area seems
to have given up. I haven't seen a squirrel in months.)

With respect to House Sparrows, I'm become skeptical of their presumed
effect on native species. They are very rare away from human structures.
Also, their numbers have been declining steeply in the last couple of
decades in both their native and introduced range. The reasons are unknown.
I think that when the developed environment becomes so hostile that even
House Sparrows struggle, it's time to sit up and take notice.

Kelly Cassidy