Kamila Součková
12. 1. 2025
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4 minutes
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Even the sparrows on the roof are chirping that you’re a bloody poacher! That’s a quote from the famous film Croodyl Dundee, when guys fight in a pub to get the attention of a beautiful journalist. What should you put in the feeder for sparrows in winter, so that they don’t chatter on the roof, but in your garden or on the balcony of a block of flats?
Sparrows are like poppies. The flock likes to stick together and when they start chirping, they can put on a decent concert. But a sparrow is not like a sparrow! Nerds may remember from grade school science that we have two species, house sparrows and field sparrows.
How to distinguish field sparrows and house sparrows? Watch this YouTube video to make it clear.
Source: Youtube
House sparrow
In terms of size, it is a slightly smaller brother of the house sparrow and likes to nest near people. You can recognize the sparrow by its gray-white cheeks and gray forehead, while the female has a gray-brown head. They build their nests in sheds, in attics, behind gutters and on houses.
Field sparrow
I found a simple tutorial for you, if you were wondering which sparrow just settled on your windowsill – if the bird has a small black spot on its cheek, you are looking at a field sparrow, but you can’t tell if it is a “lady” ” or “gentlemen” because they are both colored the same.
Generally speaking, this species tends to live in the peripheries, as it loves orchards, agricultural fields and forests, but it also occasionally strays into the city. The house sparrow builds its nests in tree hollows, various crevices and also in human huts.
They eat everything they see. Sparrows are omnivores!
Both sparrow species are big eaters. Therefore, it is no problem to attract these quarrelsome birds to the feeder, especially in winter, when it is much more difficult for them to find food, in contrast to spring and summer, when they like to enjoy worms and, above all, during this period, when they are nesting, they feed their young exclusively i disappear
However, it is easy to help sparrows a little in winter, what do you say? Sparrows love sunflower seedsthat is, they will hit the spot in your feeder. In short, cereals are part of their diet, so feel free to slide them into the feeder as well corn. They will not disdain either seed mixture for birdswhich you can normally buy in every pet store and some supermarkets. And they also like mixture in tallow.
How to maintain a feeder
Few people take care of the feeders in terms of hygiene, let alone consistently. But it is needed. After all, feeders are a chapter in themselves. After the revolution, with their various types, shapes and materials, the bag was perhaps torn. Of course, it is not easy to buy a feeder, they are either made of wood, which are a bit more demanding to maintain, or made of plastic.
Do-it-yourself professionals and amateurs like to make them themselves, on the one hand it’s fun and saves some money, and on the other hand it’s a way to entertain children and teach them something. After all, it is precisely for children that feeding the birds is an interesting spectacle, when they watch the sparrow family most enthusiastically at the feeder.
If possible, protect the feeder from snow and rain so that the food does not spoil. Clean it regularly with hot water, especially if you have decided to place the feeder on your terrace or balcony. Sparrows usually visit the feeder in smaller groups, single birds rarely, and yes, like all animals, these birds defecate.
And a very important note – if you want to fill the feeder right away with the mermomo and you don’t have the sparrow’s favorite seeds, proceed carefully and never put anything spicy, salted or smoked in the feeder from human food, as you would harm them.
A few interesting facts that might surprise you
The sparrow is a thief because it can hunt insects directly in flight. You will never see him walking. He can’t, because the sparrow doesn’t take steps, but jumps, hops, hops. In adulthood, it can perform up to 20 different melodies. It weighs a maximum of 40 grams and can fly at a speed of up to 46 kilometers per hour. It is not a migratory bird, it does not migrate anywhere and in the wild it lives for a maximum of only three years.
Sources: www.lihne-inkubatory.cz, www.zelenadomacnost.cz, www.mckinney.wbu.com, www.birdlife.cz