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Breeding Birds of North Dakota

House sparrow (Passer domesticus (Linnaeus))


Breeding Range. Locally common (or abundant) throughout the state. From about 1910 to the present time (1972), breeding populations of this introduced pest species have been well established wherever appropriate habitat conditions occurred throughout North Dakota. Records of this species prior to this time are listed in chronological order as follows:

1893--A few recorded at Fargo on August 6; not recorded elsewhere in the state during extensive travels (A. K. Fisher).
1894--A flock of eight arrived in the town of Cando in Towner County in the fall of 1894, and a few were raised in 1895 (Judd 1917).
1905--A nest with one rotten egg and three young found at Stump Lake in Nelson County on June 17 (Bishop egg collection catalog, Peabody Museum).
1907--Common in Bismarck and Mandan on December 4 and 5 (V. Bailey).
1909 - During extensive travels during the summer, Vernon Bailey found that House Sparrows were present in most towns and farms that were visited. He recorded the species as common or abundant at the following locations: Marmarth; towns between Marmarth and Lemmon, South Dakota; Linton; Bismarck; Washburn; Minot; Bottineau; Leeds; Jamestown; and Valley City.
Breeding Habitat. Closely associated with human habitation. The greater numbers are found on farmsteads, particularly in the vicinity of feed lots, barns, animal sheds, and grain storage bins; in the vicinity of stock yards and grain elevators; and in commercial and residential areas of towns and cities. In the countryside, House Sparrows frequently range out from farmsteads onto adjoining cropland fields.

Nesting. Principal breeding season: Early April to mid-September. Descriptions of nesting sites in Minnesota by Roberts (1932) apply equally well to North Dakota, and may be quoted as follows: "The nests are placed in a great variety of situations--about the eaves and in the drains pipes of buildings, in bird boxes, among vines in buildings and trees, in Bank Swallows' holes, and, less frequently, among branches of trees". In North Dakota, the abandoned nests of Cliff Swallows within active colonies also are utilized as nesting sites.


JPEG--House Sparrow

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