Date: 1/30/26 7:14 am From: Dan Mulhern <browndog06...> Subject: Fw: "House" birds
Susan, our heated water has also brought us E Bluebird and Yellow-rumped Warbler, neither of which is usual for our yard in winter.
Dan Mulhern Manhattan
----- Forwarded Message ----- From: <0000029bcf45e32f-dmarc-request...> <0000029bcf45e32f-dmarc-request...>To: "<ksbird-l...>" <ksbird-l...>Sent: Thursday, January 29, 2026 at 12:57:11 PM CSTSubject: Re: "House" birds
We're in Lawrence, a few blocks west of the University, and our house finches had a bumper crop of babies this year. They are still crowding the feeders and I am seeing very few house sparrows, a welcome change from past winters. Also seeing both nuthatches, tufted titmouse, cardinals, goldfinches, chickadees, juncos, Carolina wrens and, a gift of this cold weather and because we have heated birdbaths, bluebirds, which I don't see in the yard any other time of year.
Susan Iversen
Douglas County
On Thu, Jan 29, 2026 at 12:03 PM, Marla Shoemaker <marlaswhisperingpines...> wrote:
I'm on the west side of Manhattan, and like Dave, I rarely see house
sparrows. I've had a few house finches this winter and have also had even
fewer female purple finches over the last couple weeks. I'm in a pretty
heavily-wooded area.
Marla
Riley County
On Thu, Jan 29, 2026, 11:08 AM VIC & PAM MARTIN <butterfly...> (mailto:<butterfly...>)> wrote:
Dan,
We have very few house sparrows, but lots of house and gold finches. I'm
not sure why, but count myself lucky!
Pam Martin
----- Original Message -----
From: "Dan Mulhern" <browndog06...> (mailto:<browndog06...>)> To: "KSBIRD-L" <KSBIRD-L...> (mailto:<KSBIRD-L...>)> Sent: Thursday, January 29, 2026 9:12:23 AM
Subject: "House" birds
I remember being excited when House Finches began moving into the
Manhattan area, maybe in the 1980s. Now I didn't have to go visit family in
Denver to see them. Once they firmly established themselves as a breeding
population, they seemed to displace House Sparrows at my feed/water
stations. Sparrows didn't disappear but the numbers went way down.
Fast forward to maybe early 2000s, and the two species had reached more of
an equilibrium in my sphere of observation. Sometimes more of one,
sometimes more of the other, but with House Finches holding perhaps a
slight numerical advantage on an annual basis.
Fast forward again to the 2020s, and especially 2026, and the House Finch
numbers have been overwhelmingly surpassed by House Sparrows. This winter
I'd estimate at least 85% House Sparrows, and that might be an
underestimation.
I'm wondering if there will "always" be this ebb and flow, back and forth?
Have House Sparrows finally regained their permanent edge? Are House
Finches more susceptible to avian influenza? Questions without answers yet.
Anyone else in KS seeing trends like these?
Dan Mulhern Manhattan
