[va-richmond-general] Re: Times-Dispatch Sparrow? or Finch?
- From: "Al & Linda Warfield" <warfield101@xxxxxxxxxxx>
- To: <jimvb@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx>, "'RAS Listserv'" <va-richmond-general@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Tue, 31 May 2011 13:18:14 -0400
Jim,
According to the Cornell website, the House Sparrow is an Old World Sparrow
(Passeridae). That's a separate family from Finches and Allies (Fringillidae),
and also from New World Sparrows (Emberidizae). All of these are Passeriformes
(Perching Birds). So it is a sparrow but not in the same family as American
sparrows. Also, males in their breeding plumage are easy to ID but females or
non-breeding males can sometimes be a little difficult.
Al Warfield
----- Original Message -----
From: Jim Blowers
To: 'RAS Listserv'
Sent: Tuesday, May 31, 2011 11:33 AM
Subject: [va-richmond-general] Times-Dispatch Sparrow? or Finch?
I notice that in today's Richmond Times-Dispatch, 2011 May 31, on page B8,
there is a quarter page ad in the left bottom of the page by the TD itself. It
shows a bird in a tree with the caption "Finch or Sparrow?" Then it goes on to
say "You'd know if you read Home & Garden in The Times-Dispatch every
Saturday". The bird looks to me like a house sparrow, with lighter colors that
may be due to the color rendering of RTD's inks.
Huhh? I read at one time that a house sparrow was not a true sparrow but
rather a weaver finch. The bird is imported from Europe. I have a European bird
book but it merely classifies it as a songbird. My Peterson's guide (1980)
places the bird at the front of the finch section, followed by house finches,
purple finches, cardinals and the like. Sibley's (2000) puts it near the end of
the book, putting it together with finches, but putting cardinals in a separate
section. Neither book classifies it as a sparrow.
However, the answer given by RTD was that the bird is a sparrow, not a finch.
Wikipedia says it's a sparrow.
So who's right?
Jim Blowers
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