Most people know...
Once upon a time, in a place far, far away (Okay, not so far away. On the East Coast) some smart guy decided it would be a good idea to release European Starlings for the simple and stupid reason that the new continent America had to harbor every single bird that appeared in Shakespeare.
Little did he know he was unleashing a deadly fate for many of North America's native birds.
House Sparrows, also from Europe, were released in the hordes for a different reason. People thought that the cities were lifeless without birds. At the time, no native American birds were found in cities due to their unexpected and sudden arrival (They didn't have time to adapt).
Bathing House Sparrow. These guys are found ALL OVER THE PLACE now, and they push out native birds.
What better way to cure the lifelessness than release a couple dozen House Sparrows? House Sparrows had already adapted to the gradual arrival of cities in Europe! They would surely take to the cities of America, right?
People were so worried that House Sparrows wouldn't make it that they started to shoot the now rapidly-declining shrikes to protect the lousy sparrows.
The two invasive, highly aggressive birds grew hugely in numbers and began kicking out native cavity-nesting birds from their nests. They almost caused the extinctions of the three bluebird species in North America. No doubt, they have extirpated hundreds of native bird populations locally through the entire nation. And they still are doing it, to this day, despite the huge amount of control efforts to bring them down.
Often, House Sparrows will completely dominate and take over a feeder, keeping native birds away from it.
The Other Side of Things
Ironically...
House Sparrows and European Starlings are both declining rapidly in their native homeland. And they are still declining, to this day, despite the huge amount of control efforts to bring them back up. Starling populations in Europe have declined over 80% in the last couple decades. Unfortunately, it looks like they're headed on the path of hard return.
Sadly, these birds may become extinct if the reason for their rapid decline is not discovered and dealt with soon.
So why are starlings and House Sparrows doing so ridiculously well in America, which isn't even their native homeland, but dying out miserably in Europe?
What's happening to the starlings?
Starlings feed on specific invertebrates heavily that are regarded as pests, so as those "pests," are eliminated, the starlings are eliminated too, some say. Then how are starlings surviving so well here, where gardeners freak out and spray two tons of pesticide at an aphid?
Others (in denial. This decline has been going on for decades) say the huge crash is because the mild winter has enabled the starlings to forage in the wild. I'm not even sure how that really makes sense. Isn't there more food in the wild than in cities anyway?
Still others say that other birds are pushing them out. I doubt that a bird aggressive enough to kill two bluebird parents for their own nest will be pushed out by other less aggressive birds. And there's no evidence that other aggressive bird populations are on the rise, anyway, quite the contrary.
So what's happening to the sparrows and starlings?
What do you think?
-chiccadee
