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epitome of incomprehensibility
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I was so intrigued by this one. It was a mystery like the house_finch, taking a while to find...but the answer was right at home.
For days I wondered, "They could be a sparrow or a wren, but they're a bit bigger than the sparrows I see in bushes a lot. Less rounder, a bit longer. And not striped all over, but only striped brown and reddish brown on their backs and wings. White unstriped bellies."
Birds of Canada had sparrow after sparrow. None seemed to match. I didn't go through them all systematically, though. I complained to Dad.
He suggested, "Maybe a house sparrow?"
And yes. It's a common kind here, like the song_sparrow (those small striped-all-over sparrows that haunt the hedges of Montreal, cutely). Not closely related, though, because these bigger sparrows are European imports.
And they say North Americans are bigger. Tell that to the starlings, startling the smaller birds away from the feeder. I clap back. Shoo, shoo. You guys eat bugs too. Leave the seeds to the little birdies. But I don't do that with the house sparrows.
There's no place like the bird feeder. I guess that's why a bunch of birds are called House Something...they hang around human habitations, especially if offered snacks. But they have nests too, they have variegated lives, they exist outside of the short moments glimpsed at our food offerings.
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