Invasive vs. native: house sparrow

Unfortunately, but sometimes fortunately, we have invasive species of all types in our lives. Yes, right here in the Columbia Basin of Eastern Washington.

These include the Eurasian collared dove, English sparrow, Chinese or ring-neck pheasant, brown trout, Hungarian partridge, crayfish and more bird, fish and animal species.

Yesterday, the nutria was mention in this column. They are found in 16 states these days, including Washington and Oregon. A large Chesapeake Bay nutria eradication project is underway back east.

There are some nutria on the west side of our state, along the Columbia River and north to Skagit County. Apparently, they do not do well in areas where water surfaces freeze for long periods.

Wasn’t able to find a definitive answer as of the deadline for this column, but am wondering if a nutria, being an invasive species, can be shot on sight.

House sparrow

House sparrows were introduced into North America less than 200 years ago, but now they are titled by some as the most common bird in the world. Several species of sparrows are included, but we mainly refer to them as house or English sparrows.

A glance at my backyard feeder shows 50 to 100 of the birds right now. If they are invasive, can we kill them on sight?

My first hunting experience was shooting grasshoppers and sparrows. We would wait in ambush for them to land nearby and shoot them. Sometimes we would use our sneaking skills to get as close as possible, before trying a shot.

Were we bad boys? Now we know these birds were invasive and causing problems, therefore we were helping rid North America of problem birds.

These days the sparrows are fed in my backyard. Plus, we have birdhouses to accommodate sparrow families. Garnet would shoot me if our sparrows began dying due to being shot by a BB gun in our backyard.

Now my feelings won’t be so hurt if my backyard cats catch a few each year. Hey, it will be helping to knock down the invasive sparrow population.

The cats usually target the fledging’s. These are the young birds who are just beginning to fly. They may be able to crudely fly to the ground, but not be able to fly back to a tree.

The cats also try to catch an adult bird under the feeder. They will wait in ambush, for minutes at a time, until one bird appears close enough. Then pounce. The cats have little success. It appears we are stuck with the invasive sparrow.

Tomorrow: Another invasive species.