**No birds were hurt in the making of this blog post**Something caught my eye as I looked out the window this morning. From the porch I saw two male House Sparrows fighting. Certainly not unusual this time of year but it went on for a bit too long and the wildlife rehab volunteer in me kicked in and I ran over and broke it up. I was happy to see the one on the bottom was fine as he flew back into the tree.
Twenty minutes later, same thing. I let it go on as long as I could stand it but finally I once again broke it up (no easy feat!). I've seen many early spring scuffles but this was extreme. Once again, though, the one on the bottom was fine.
After a third round I resigned myself to the fact that this needed to play out despite my best efforts so instead I pulled up a chair and watched.
 |
It turns out there were three males, battling it out for the affections of a lovely female sparrow, who sat coquettishly watching from a nearby perch.
Sometimes it was only a two-bird smackdown:
 |
| Beak-lock! |
 |
Other times, it was a three-bird cage match:
For six hours battle royale ensued, and the only time they took breaks is when they got hungry. Oddly enough, they would fly to the backyard feeder together, share nicely, fly back to the female in the front yard and immediately all heck would break loose again.
Even while in the birdhouse the fighting continued. There is a male inside, and the other has grabbed his tailfeather in an attempt to pull him out.
 |
| Is this the bird equivalent of pulling hair? |
 |
| Down to the grass for another round! |
 |
| While the other two are fighting it out, may I steal a kiss, my pretty? |
 |
| Prime Real Estate |
 |
| This is the lovely female who started it all. No doubt we will soon be having baby sparrows! |
Wonderful captures of behaviour.
ReplyDelete