It is not uncommon to see them in gardens, but they
do not appear to be especially attracted by our feeders.
At least, so it seemed for 25 years! The first 3 months of 2024 appears to mark the discovery of
our feeders by the local flock(s). There were 52 additional sighting days in this 91-day period,
whereas prior to that, 0-5 sightings would be made in these same months.
Sometimes just one female, or a male-female pair, would feed at the mixed "big-seed" feeder,
filled with black sunflower seeds and other treats. However, most notably in January, as many as 7-15 birds were
present, at the feeder and on the snowy lawn beneath.
The house sparrow is so widespread (in southern Ontario, and indeed worldwide) as to be overlooked. To the south, at Presqu'ile park, numbers of house sparrows gradually rose through the 1970s, but the species was found largely around residences along Bayshore Road (LaForest, 1993, p.390). The house sparrow is abundant year-round in Peterborough county, and may raise several broods in a year (Sadler, 1983, p.166). As mentioned above, the species was released in New York, apparently to control cankerworm, and spread rapidly. It was thereafter found to nest in the Kingston area as early as 1896 (Weir, 1989, pp.485-486). Across the province (Cadman et al., 1987, pp.504-505; 2007, pp.628-629) this sedentary species breeds widely across southern and central Ontario. Cold winters and rural, forest habitat generally keep this town-and-farm -loving species out of most of northern Ontario,m with the exception of the border with Minnesota in the northwest. A decline was noted between the first and second breeding-bird atlases, with the greatest concentrations west from the Toronto area, between western Lake Ontario, Lake Erie, and southern Lake Huron.
In the Adirondacks, the bird is mostly found in towns and farms (Beehler, 1978, p.172). However, across the wider breadth of New York state the species grew rapidly in numbers, but has declined for a number of possible reasons, including changing architectural styles (reducing the number of suitable nest sites), and competition for such sites with starling and especially house finch (Levine, 1998, pp.574-576).
References
Beehler,BMcP (1978) Birdlife of the Adirondack Park. Adirondack Mountain Club, Glens Falls, New York, 212pp.
Cadman,MD, Eagles,PFJ and Helleiner,FM (1987) Atlas of the Breeding Birds of Ontario. Federation of Ontario Naturalists and Long Point Bird Observatory, published by University of Waterloo Press, 617pp.
Cadman,MD, Sutherland,DA, Beck,GG, Lepage,D and Couturier,AR (editors) (2007) Atlas of the Breeding Birds of Ontario, 2001-2005. Bird Studies Canada, Environment Canada, Ontario Field Ornithologists, Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources, and Ontario Nature, 706pp.
LaForest,SM (1993) Birds of Presqu'ile Provincial Park. Friends of Presqu'ile Park / Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources, 436pp.
Levine,E (editor) (1998) Bull's Birds of New York State. Comstock Publishing Associates, Cornell University Press, revised version, 622pp.
Sadler,D (1983) Our Heritage of Birds: Peterborough County in the Kawarthas. Peterborough Field Naturalists / Orchid Press, Peterborough, ON, 192pp.
Weir,RD (1989) Birds of the Kingston Area. Quarry Press, 608pp. plus map.