Sparrows are probably the most common birds in the world, yet they’re often overlooked. World Sparrow Day, celebrated on 20 March, reminds us to notice these wild visitors to our urban worlds.
Sparrows weren’t high on aspiring wildlife photographer Wisani Ngwenya’s list of subjects, but after being asked to photograph them for World Sparrow Day on 20 March, the Wild Shots Outreach graduate developed a new appreciation for these ubiquitous little birds. He shares his observations.
Pictures by Wisani Ngwenya.
I had seen sparrows before; they are often around at my old high school in Ludlow Village in Mpumalanga, but I didn’t see anything special about them. That began to change when I got an assignment to photograph them. I had never considered photographing these little brown birds before and I thought the assignment was a strange one.
Then I started to worry about how I was going to photograph them. They always fly away.
I googled sparrows and began to learn many interesting things about them; like that there are various species in South Africa (house sparrow, grey-headed sparrow, Cape sparrow, great sparrow and yellow-throated petronia), and that the ones I knew from school were house sparrows. The most common sparrows are house sparrows and they are everywhere humans are.
Did you know?
The Cape sparrow is near-endemic, found almost only in South Africa. The house sparrow was introduced to the country in the 1800s.
Sparrows in the spotlight
I went looking for sparrows in Hoedspruit, where I am completing an internship. Although they are all around, finding some was harder than I thought. I started looking at every wire, peering into bushes, and hanging around places I thought they might like. I found it interesting to know that they live near people, but most people never stop to look at them.
In search of sparrows I found that people confuse these little brown and white birds with other birds similar to them. Some people sent me to the wrong species of bird. Some people are concerned about their presence as they see them as an aggressive introduced species which has a negative impact on the local indigenous breeding sparrows. As a ‘spirit’ animal they seem to have different meanings. This small bird can symbolise joy and protection, but it can also be a symbol of simplicity and community.
From trying to find and photograph them, I saw they are often in a little group and interact with each other. My research confirmed they are generally social birds, with many species breeding in loose colonies and most species occurring in flocks during the non-breeding season. They are many different shades of brown and pretty if you look closely at them. I learnt you have to be patient to photograph birds and expect some disappointment. I took a lot of photos, without them being great. I also realised that if you are patient, the birds come closer to you. Despite their suggestive species name, Passer domesticus, they aren’t officially domesticated and easily startle and fly away.
After having tried to photograph them for the first time, I have started to think about sparrows differently. We know they are there, but we don’t give them attention. Photographing them turns our eyes to them. I’m pleased to share some of my favorite images to honour my little subjects and celebrate them this World Sparrow Day.
Why celebrate sparrows?
World Sparrow Day was declared not only to draw attention to these little birds, but to get people thinking about the wild animals that share our urban spaces. Even though house sparrows are such common birds, they are disappearing across their natural range. Nobody knows the exact reason for the declining numbers. It may be a combination of habitat destruction, lack of insect food and other factors. If we can improve the environment for sparrows, other wild creatures will also benefit.
Fast facts about sparrows
• The sparrow’s dull colouring is for camouflage when feeding on the ground.
• Sparrows don’t just like feeding and roosting together in flocks of their own species, they will even join other birds to look for food.
• They are omnivorous, eating seed, fruit, nectar and insects, as well as all sorts of food scraps.
• Sparrows are monogamous and form long-term or permanents bonds with a single partner.
• Both parents look after the chicks, feeding them a diet of insects at first and later plant material.
• There are records of black (melanistic) house sparrows, as well as white (leucistic) sparrows of all local species expect the great sparrow.
We have a holliday house in Leeupoort vakansiedorp but hardly…if ever….see sparrows there. The place is near Thabazimbi. Your
remarks pse
What a delightful story! A wonderful reminder to stop and notice the little things. Well done for getting some nice photos of them. It is true that sparrows can often be confused with other “LBJs” and in fact they may be observed eating alongside other seed-eating species of birds. I never realized that they are omnivorous, nor did I know they are monogamous, so thank you for teaching me something new! We have sparrows in North America too and they look very similar to the ones in South Africa.
I loved this article. It is so important, in our fast paced lives, to stop and notice and marvel at the small things. I have become increasingly interested in sparrows, not just because they really are cute, but also because of an enormous construction that went on on the top of a pillar on our veranda about a year or so ago. It was a House Sparrows nest and it was being built by four sparrows – a male and three females. I watched in amazement over the period of about a month as the nest became bigger and bigger, eventually filling the area on top of the column and spilling over into the jasmine creeper. Because I didn’t want to disturb the birds, I never climbed up to look into the nest, but I did notice that all four birds lived in it and two fluffy babies fledged. All six birds often sat on the nearby telephone wire and all the adults fed the babies. Your article mentions that sparrows are monogamous. Are they? Would this have been an alpha male and female and a couple of “aunts” to help? The nest has been investigated and altered since then, but hasn’t been used to breed in again.
Here on the Garden Route we have Cape Sparrows nesting in the eaves of our patio. One on one side and one on the other. There is one male and two females and he was breeding with both. In the spring one fledgling emerged from each nest and then there were five. At some stage they all disappeared, they used to come in every evening as the sun disappears to sleep back in their nests. I didn’t realise how I would miss their cheerful chatter and felt somehow deserted. However after a week or so they returned and now the three original sparrows live here and occasionally I see their young with them. However it does seem to me that the young are independent and have sought out other areas in which to congregate. Every evening as the sun starts to go down the male sits on our roof and calls his family to come home – and they join him before enjoying a final meal from the tray of seed I lay out for them before going to sleep in their nests. Going back a bit in time to winter last year, it seems you are right when you say they form long term bonds. One of the females used to come into our dining area which has a high ceiling and sleep on one of the roof bolts every night. (A strategically placed towel caught the droppings as she was always on exactly the same bolt). In the morning her mate would sit outside calling until I opened the door and she flew out to join him and his other ‘wife’. I am keen to see whether it is the cold weather that drew her inside and whether she’ll sleep on the same bolt this coming winter. They never flew into windows and seemed to know their way in and out the doorway effortlessly. They have been an absolute joy and I would really miss them if they leave!!!
LOVE this article. Great to see a young South African showcasing some of this country’s more “ordinary” and yet no less special wildlife.
i have a bird feeding tray just off my stoep with a cover on top to stop pidgeons getting at the food as they chase the smaller birds away it is fascinating watching the weavers and sparrows squabling over a slice of bread or some leftovers some are very bossy and chase any others away while they have their fill then another one will take over , its fascinating watching them doing their ‘thing’
Such interesting sightings of sparrow behaviour! In “Beat About the Bush: Birds”, guide Trevor Carnaby notes that while sparrows are considered monogamous, polygyny has been recorded in the Cape sparrow. Some species may also on occasion breed semi-colonially.