Besides the ever-present rock pigeon, house sparrows might be the most common bird that the majority of people see in their everyday lives. It's impossible to enjoy a lunch al fresco at your favorite restaurant without one of these persistent birds begging for crumbs. But as widespread as this animal is in North American cities, it's not a native. In fact it's not even a sparrow as Americans know them.
The house sparrow was introduced to the continent first in the nineteenth century, and after several additional introductions spread from as far north as Canada into South America. It's in a family of birds known generally as Old World sparrows, as opposed to the many more species in an entirely separate family often referred to as New World sparrows.
In this latter group are a wide-ranging variety of birds that include towhees, juncos and many with a last name sparrow but with descriptive first names like green-tailed, rufous-crowned or black-throated. In my backyard in Phoenix lives an especially large species of the animal named the Abert's towhee.
The drabbly colored bird is mostly native to the desert areas of Arizona. But besides its size, it stands out because I've almost always observed it in pairs that constantly communicate with each other through loud and regular single-note tweets. Often one will forage through the dirt in my yard's raised planters, while the other mimics a metronome several feet above from a block wall. It's as if a guard is signaling a protective call with a frequency that increases with the risk of danger.
The Abert's towhee is both a common resident to the gardens of Arizona's desert cities and to the native arid landscapes beyond. It might share some of these habitats with a close cousin, the canyon towhee, another large sparrow that's similar in appearance. While you might have to check your location to know for sure which is which, one thing is for sure: you'll know it's not a house sparrow.
The house sparrow was introduced to the continent first in the nineteenth century, and after several additional introductions spread from as far north as Canada into South America. It's in a family of birds known generally as Old World sparrows, as opposed to the many more species in an entirely separate family often referred to as New World sparrows.
In this latter group are a wide-ranging variety of birds that include towhees, juncos and many with a last name sparrow but with descriptive first names like green-tailed, rufous-crowned or black-throated. In my backyard in Phoenix lives an especially large species of the animal named the Abert's towhee.
The drabbly colored bird is mostly native to the desert areas of Arizona. But besides its size, it stands out because I've almost always observed it in pairs that constantly communicate with each other through loud and regular single-note tweets. Often one will forage through the dirt in my yard's raised planters, while the other mimics a metronome several feet above from a block wall. It's as if a guard is signaling a protective call with a frequency that increases with the risk of danger.
The Abert's towhee is both a common resident to the gardens of Arizona's desert cities and to the native arid landscapes beyond. It might share some of these habitats with a close cousin, the canyon towhee, another large sparrow that's similar in appearance. While you might have to check your location to know for sure which is which, one thing is for sure: you'll know it's not a house sparrow.
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| Abert's towhee in Phoenix yard. |
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| Pair of Abert's towhees in Phoenix yard. |
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| Pair of Abert's towhees in Phoenix yard. |
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| Abert's towhee foraging in Phoenix yard. |
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