Big Year Week 3

January 15-21

The return of snow kept the feeders busy early in the week, and I was able to capture a few shots of common feeder birds such as this House Sparrow (Passer domesticus).  Formerly known as the English Sparrow, this Eurasian species was purposefully introduced to Brooklyn, New York in the 1850s allegedly in-part to make immigrants feel more at home by having familiar wildlife around them.  Lacking a natural predator, the House Sparrow became an ecological nuisance by displacing native cavity nesting birds such as Bluebirds.  By 1910, the House Sparrow had expanded all the way to California.  House Sparrows belong to the family Passeridae, which is an entirely different family than the native American sparrows, which belong to the family Emberizidae.  This species has adapted well to urban environments, and it is often seen scavenging for food in parking lots.

Male House Sparrow (Passer domesticus) 

Everyone knows the Northern Cardinal (Cardinalis cardinalis).   Indiana, along with six other states have designated the Northern Cardinal as their official state bird, and it is a year-round resident.  Like many birds, the male of the species is much more colorful than the female. This phenomenon, known as sexual dichromatism was described by Charles Darwin, and it is believed that the males are brightly colored in order to be attractive to the females whereas the drab colored females tend to blend into their surroundings in order to escape predators during nesting.  Northern Cardinals are our only crested red bird, and they are one of the few birds species where the females as well as the male sing.

Male Northern Cardinal (Cardinalis cardinalis)

Female Northern Cardinal

Year-to-Date Totals:

Birds - 12
Mammals - 1