The British House Sparrow, I painted this Cock Sparrow to denote his enjoyment of bathing in water, he looks proud, and for a little plain bird he is nevertheless beautiful, Again I used my method of stippling the paint away from the canvas with my palette knives to highlight the wet feathers.
The British house sparrow is an opportunistic bird of towns and cities, parks, gardens and farmland. House sparrows feed on a variety of foods, including buds, grains, nuts and scraps, and will visit birdtables and feeders.These noisy and sociable birds are found around the world, thanks to their cheerful ability to make the most of humanity’s rubbish and wastefulness. But monitoring suggests a severe decline in the UK House Sparrow population, recently estimated as dropping by 71% between 1977 and 2008 with large falls in both rural and urban populations. Their numbers are still dropping in England, Breeding Bird Survey data indicates recent population increases in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.
Cheeping flocks of House Sparrow once tumbled from untidy nests and wallowed in urban dust baths. Now the species is in decline and has been on the UK Red List since 2002.
Colonial nesters, the male House Sparrow is resplendent with grey head and black bib, while the female and young are more uniformly brown. Very much associated with the dwellings of man whether urban or rural, House Sparrows enjoy a mixed diet, and in the summer will readily forage for insects in hedgerows and meadows providing they do not have to fly too far from their nests.
House Sparrows are found year round throughout Britain & Ireland, except for on the highest peaks. The species has declined in the UK since the mid-1970s, with losses most notable in the south and east.