Cockney Sparrows

A melanistic male House Sparrow (all images by Paul Davis)

Sparrows have been the flavour of the month recently especially in the London area. I've been involved in the Cockney Sparrow Count organised by the RSPB, London Wildlife Trust, Green Information for Greater London and the London Biodiversity Partnership. The idea is to encourage Londoners to count  their local sparrows until the closing date of 12th July.

I first mentioned Urban Birder Paul Davis a little while ago and his visitation to his from an unidentified small bird. We enventually worked out that the unknown passerine was indeed a oddly plumaged House Sparrow. This male has now become a bit of a celebrity. It's even attracted the attention of the academics including the Curator of Birds at the Natural History Museum. He's writing a paper on House Sparrow plumage aberrations.

Now who said House Sparrows were boring?