Tree/House Sparrow hybrid pics (1 Viewer)

[scodger]

Hi

One or two people have asked me about these crosses and I was lucky enough to receive these pics from Nikki in Derbyshire of a bird currently coming into her garden, so I thought I'd share them with you

I'm no great expert on these things and I've forwarded the pics to Denis Summer-Smith who did a paper on them some years ago.

I suspect they are commoner than we think but as with Tree Sparrows often overlooked.

Interesting bird, please do comment

( My thanks to Nikki for allowing use of the pictures )

...and if you see any Tree Sparrows let me know here here

 

[Capercaillie71]

Interesting- reminded me of this thread from years ago

 

[eagle golden]

Hi

One or two people have asked me about these crosses and I was lucky enough to receive these pics from Nikki in Derbyshire of a bird currently coming into her garden, so I thought I'd share them with you

I'm no great expert on these things and I've forwarded the pics to Denis Summer-Smith who did a paper on them some years ago.

I suspect they are commoner than we think but as with Tree Sparrows often overlooked.

Interesting bird, please do comment

( My thanks to Nikki for allowing use of the pictures )

...and if you see any Tree Sparrows let me know here here

HI without sounding stupid what makes you think these are hybrids, as all I can see is true tree sparrow, apart fom a mere hint of grey around the head. Willing to learn.lovely pictures any waty.

 

[halftwo]

I used to have a decent photo of a hybrid taken in Sheffield c1983. Maybe it's a Yorkshire thing!

 

[The Cumbrian]

HI without sounding stupid what makes you think these are hybrids, as all I can see is true tree sparrow, apart fom a mere hint of grey around the head. Willing to learn.lovely pictures any waty.

I was going to ask the same question. I get between 8 and 15 Tree Sparrows at the feeders in hard weather and apart from the hint of grey on the crown this one looks heavily Tree Sparrow to me. A second generation 3/4 Tree Sparrow?

 

[scodger]

This is undoubtedly a hybrid House/Tree Sparrow. I'd suggest the characters on face value are more dominantly House Sparrow than Tree Sparrow. That doesn't necessarily mean it's 3/4 House Sparrow for instance, perhaps the House Sparrow genes on plumage are just more dominant, and I'm not sure there is any definitive proof that 1st generation hybrids are fertile, so 2nd generation hybrids may just be a twinkle in a hybrid sparrows eyes. We won't know what it's parentage were

Size of bill/head/general jizz looks more House Sparrow
There's more than a hint of grey on the crown - House Sparrow
Colour of the russet on the crown is richer than House Sparrow so I'd suggest Tree Sparrow
Cheeks are not as white as Tree Sparrow can be but they are paler than House Sparrow,
but the spot is less distinct than Tree Sparrow, although that can vary
There is a hint of an indistinct dark chin strap, looking closely at images on google of both species it seems it can occur in both but more so in Tree Sparrow.
My take on it is that it's a bit more House Sparrow than Tree Sparrow but I suspect a 1st generation, I'm sure others may disagree.
Anyway an interesting bird

 

[Monahawk]

There have been several recorded instances of tree/house sparrow hybrids along the east coast of Ireland. In fact I had one visit one of my nut feeders about 4/5 years back. It had a predominant grey crown but had the tree sparrow 'sideburns' and the distinctive tree sparrow 'tek-tek' call and more 'buzzy' chirrup sound. There is a very small colony of tree sparrows down my road which mix with house sparrows, so interbreeding is certainly not out of the question. I believe interbreeding betweeen the two species could be more common than we think.


Si.

 

[Lmc3598]

Interesting ive always wandered what the cause of hybridization is (if its not pure desperationD

 

[Jan-Paul Charteris]

This is undoubtedly a hybrid House/Tree Sparrow. I'd suggest the characters on face value are more dominantly House Sparrow than Tree Sparrow. That doesn't necessarily mean it's 3/4 House Sparrow for instance, perhaps the House Sparrow genes on plumage are just more dominant, and I'm not sure there is any definitive proof that 1st generation hybrids are fertile, so 2nd generation hybrids may just be a twinkle in a hybrid sparrows eyes. We won't know what it's parentage were

Size of bill/head/general jizz looks more House Sparrow
There's more than a hint of grey on the crown - House Sparrow
Colour of the russet on the crown is richer than House Sparrow so I'd suggest Tree Sparrow
Cheeks are not as white as Tree Sparrow can be but they are paler than House Sparrow,
but the spot is less distinct than Tree Sparrow, although that can vary
There is a hint of an indistinct dark chin strap, looking closely at images on google of both species it seems it can occur in both but more so in Tree Sparrow.
My take on it is that it's a bit more House Sparrow than Tree Sparrow but I suspect a 1st generation, I'm sure others may disagree.
Anyway an interesting bird

I agree, to add to the hybrid features mentioned by yourself, that are visible on this bird...incomplete collar, and indistinct but definate small pale fleck just above and behind the left eye at least. Some grey on rump would be another feature typically shown by hybrids albeit not visible in these photos

Jan

 

[Capercaillie71]

I'm not sure there is any definitive proof that 1st generation hybrids are fertile, so 2nd generation hybrids may just be a twinkle in a hybrid sparrows eyes.

In 2007 there was a report of a hybrid sparrow in Aberdeenshire feeding young. Apparently the young bird looked like a juvenile house sparrow.

 

[Enji]

Here are some House/Tree Sparrows hybrids in Sweden.

http://www.artportalen.se/birds/gallery.asp?art=839&art_leaf=True