Invasion of the Sparrows

Today I'll be talking about a little bird much closer to home. As to what inspired me to write on it, well, my class has been talking about how kids now a days spend more time indoors instead of out, so my next few posts will be more on the local wildlife here in Singapore. What better way to start these few posts with the adorable Eurasian Tree Sparrow.

The Eurasian tree sparrow has been around in Singapore for a long time, so much so that very few actually realize that the small bird is actually an invasive species. Not to be confused with its cousin, the Eurasian House Sparrow, this little bird has certainly adapted well to human environments and is now a common sight to see throughout Singapore. Some might wonder why it is called a "tree" sparrow seeing as it often builds its nests in buildings and structures.this is because in Britain, the tree sparrow is known as a woodland bird, making its nests in trees. However in Singapore, we ended up with tree sparrows making their nests in houses instead, the government did a good job relocating everyone into flats (pun intended). The house sparrow though rare in Singapore, can be differentiated from the tree sparrow by size and the colour of its head. The tree sparrow is smaller in size and has a chestnut brown head, whereas the house sparrow has a grey-slated head.

Another way to differentiate the Eurasian Tree Sparrow (left) form the Eurasian House Sparrow (right) is the presence of a black ear covert on the white chin of the tree 

To be a successful invasive species, it has to be able to out-compete local species as wells as other invasive species. As an invasive species, the tree sparrow seems to be losing its touch. As of late, bird watchers have seen a slight decline in the number of tree sparrows sighted and it has been suspected that this is due to the sparrows slowly losing ground to the more aggressive Javan Myna and the House Crow. All 3 birds being scavengers they are usually seen around Singapore's hawker centers eating scraps, they compete for a decreasing supply of food available as hawker cleaner practices become more efficient. Not only is their food supply under threat, the holes in which these birds, including the sparrow, usually nests in have been continually blocked or fenced up. The tree sparrow is still abundant in Singapore and many are hoping for a come back of the species, preferring them over the mynas and the crows.

References

Eurasian Tree Sparrow. (2015). Retrieved from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eurasian_tree_sparrow

Graham, J. (2015). Eurasian House sparrow. Retrieved from https://www.birdguides.com/webzine/article.asp?a=3322

Llow, J., & Subaraj, R. (2015). Bird Ecology Study Group The Eurasian Tree Sparrow in Urban Singapore. Besgroup.org. Retrieved 12 October 2015, from http://www.besgroup.org/2005/11/21/the-eurasian-tree-sparrow-in-urban-singapore/

The RSPB,. (2015). Tree sparrow. Retrieved 12 October 2015, from https://www.rspb.org.uk/discoverandenjoynature/discoverandlearn/birdguide/name/t/treesparrow/