Overwintering survival of color-banded House Sparrows in Westchester, NY

Abstract

Passer domesticus (House Sparrow) is a common invasive bird species originating in Europe and Asia. They were introduced to the United States around 200 years ago when the Europeans began their colonization of the New World. Despite being ubiquitous, there is relatively little published data on their site fidelity and over-winter survival in the Northeast. House Sparrows are not thought to venture far from their established territories, and only tend to be territorial of their immediate area during breeding season, otherwise forming large flocks. I studied the overwinter (October-February) survival and site fidelity of House Sparrows on the Purchase College campus (Westchester, NY). We banded birds at two points in the overwintering period (October 21-22, 2022, and February 8-9, 2023) near a bird feeding station on campus, where House Sparrows were often observed. During this time, a total of 73 birds were banded, with a total of 12 different species captured. Of those captured, we measured and uniquely color banded 24 House Sparrows in October 2022, and another 8 in February 2023. There is significance in the size difference between male and female HOSP, and this may play a role in the over-winter survival capabilities of both sexes. Females were also resighted less often and therefore implies that they either do not survive as well or they disperse farther than the males.