Pond Boss Forums INTRO Questions & Observations Critters on my fence

Norm,

Although they're in the finch family, they're more commonly called "English sparrow", AKA "house sparrow". Although an alien species, I guess they're one of the most common birds in the USA. I consider them rats with wings.

[img] http://www.explorebiodiversity.com/Hawaii/BIRDS/KenBridgesPhotos/IMG_5004g2t.jpg [/img]

I'm glad you clarified that one, Bobad. I thought it might be unusual for your neck of the woods to have European Finches. They are, in my estimation, the most colorful of the finches and only seen along the west coast (IIRC...?) We had one land at our feeder in the burb's of Chicago and we called the local Audobon Society chapter president. We described the bird to the point that she too was convinced that we had seen an extremely rare sighting of a European Finch in the midwest. In fact, she said that unless somebody else has the same sighting, she is not going to publish it because I would every birdwatcher in the midwest camped around our property. About 2 years later, I was at one of the larger pet stores near our home and freaked a little when I saw that you can actually buy these birds as pets. I believe that explains our rare sighting.
a E-F website w/pic