Free house sparrows

[Nathan Morleyy]

I agree amalan11,
Noisy mynors are always atacking my aviary.

Thanks Nathan

[natamambo]

Way OT now, but Indian Mynahs and Noisy Mynahs are not at all related. The closest relative in Oz to the Noisy Mynah is the Bell Bird. Both are actually honeyeaters, both very agressive territoria;y and both extremely well adapted to humans.

[Tintola]

We had this Mynah and Miner discussion not so long ago.

Indian "MYNAHS" are, as the name implies, are imported and are a Starling. They take over nest holes of native birds and walk around on the ground, they do not attack aviary birds.

Native Noisy "MINERS" and bellbirds are native and are honeyeaters as natamambo stated. They harass your birds in the aviary and stay mostly in trees.
Well I'm glad that's all cleared up.

[toothlessjaws]

In ten years of living in inner city Sydney, I've never seen even one house sparrow. Not one. I have seen some way out on the urban fringe, in the outer suburbs.
Sparrows are still very common in Adelaide. When I go there, I do double takes at all the sparrows, which are omnipresent even in very built up and treeless areas.
There are a lot of theories going round for the sparrows' decline on the east coast, but one obvious one never gets mentioned: Indian mynahs. There are none in Adelaide.

really? now i'm trying to think if, when i lived in central sydney or if any of the hundreds of times i have visited that city i have ever seen sparrows. "surely!" i keep thinking to myself. though i can think of no definite moments.

here in melbourne's inner city the most common birds (by far) are:

chinese turtle doves
indian mynahs
blackbirds
sparrows
wattlebirds
rainbow lorikeets

ALL of which live in my garden. the only other birds i have ever spotted are yellow plumed honeyeaters (which are common visitors) and twice yellow tailed black cockatoos!!

[desertbirds]

Since we are OT, heres a question to ponder. We have Magpies that dont swoop, White Plumed Honeyeaters that dont attack like they do in Adelaide, Yellow Throated Miners that arent nearly as agressive as Noisies and Bell Birds that certainly dont look or behave like Honeyeaters, why are our similar species so more relaxed in the Territory ?

[djb78]

Desertbirds I'll take a stab, probably got to do with the habitat and human development, as down here in the South East humans are taking over land which leads to less food and territory for breeding so competition for best nesting sites and feeding sites become more rare which in turn makes he birds more aggresive such as an overstocked aviery. As for those flying mice (sparrows) and Indian myhnas if anybody wants some I have hundreds of each here, willing to swap for some butcher birds as these should help with the flying rodent infestation.

[Nathan Morleyy]

djb78,
I have a buthcure bird you can have he keeps killing my finches you can have him for free.

Thanks Nathan

[SamDavis]

Mouse hole maybe the way in, had a African fire keep getting out same thing check everywhere couldn't find how he was getting out so sat quietly and watched him disappear down a mouse hole and come out in a flower bed about 3 feet away from the aviary

Maybe, but a sparrow is about 10 times the size of a ruddy so would be a really tight squeeze. Can't see any other possibility at present, unless they're mates with David Copperfield!

I've always thought of Sparrows (and Indian Mynahs) as rats with wings, but looking closely at them these past few days they are actually quite nice looking. We rarely see them around our place, but I know a neighbour has ongoing issues with them nesting in the eves of their large shed. There were heaps of sparrows in sydney when I was growing up, and I just assumed this was still the case. However I can't recall hearing them when up visiting, so maybe the Indian Mynahs have taken over. Currently Double Bars are by far the most prolific species around our place, but they've never managed to find a way into the aviary - although they're always in and out of our sheds.

[djb78]

Ok Nathan I'll take him and his mate, not worried about him touching my birds if he can get them well he deserves what he catches as not even a sparrow can get to mine.

[E Orix]

Here in our area House Sparrows are very common(pest)yet my mate living in a built up area near Melb. Airport only has the Tree Sparrow.
Years ago I bred them to the 7th generation and those young aviary bred birds were still as wild as any wild caught bird.
They are very street smart and a nightmare to catch in an aviary,the will run along the ground like a mouse,hide,you name it.
I found them free breeders but not the best aviary inmate in my opinion.