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"American" House Sparrow (1 Viewer)

What's interesting is that the current range for the House Finch shows a continuous distribution from coast to coast, including southern Canada. This would suggest that it thrives in every major region of the country without the necessity of human assistance. It would seem that a natural expansion across the continent might have happened anyway, as there are no significant discontinuities in it's range.
 
Robert / Seattle said:
What's interesting is that the current range for the House Finch shows a continuous distribution from coast to coast, including southern Canada. This would suggest that it thrives in every major region of the country without the necessity of human assistance. It would seem that a natural expansion across the continent might have happened anyway, as there are no significant discontinuities in it's range.
Click to expand...

I dimly recall reading in American Birds magazine in the 1980s that western House Finches were expanding eastward as the eastern were entering the Great Plains. Does anybody have any hard information to corroborate or correct my imperfect recollection?
 
Microtus said:
I dimly recall reading in American Birds magazine in the 1980s that western House Finches were expanding eastward as the eastern were entering the Great Plains. Does anybody have any hard information to corroborate or correct my imperfect recollection?
Click to expand...

The BNA online account for the species (http://bna.birds.cornell.edu/bna/species/046/articles/distribution) is one of the older ones (1993) so isn't up-to-date but has a nice series of maps, the latest of which (1990) show the 2 populations--eastern and western-- about to meet in a broad belt west of the Mississippi. By 2000, according to the distribution map in the Sibley Field Guide of that date, the colonization of the lower 48 was complete with all gaps (except small ones in Texas & Florida) filled in.
 
fugl said:
The BNA online account for the species (http://bna.birds.cornell.edu/bna/species/046/articles/distribution) is one of the older ones (1993) so isn't up-to-date but has a nice series of maps, the latest of which (1990) show the 2 populations--eastern and western-- about to meet in a broad belt west of the Mississippi. By 2000, according to the distribution map in the Sibley Field Guide of that date, the colonization of the lower 48 was complete with all gaps (except small ones in Texas & Florida) filled in.
Click to expand...

Which would support my suggestion that in the absence of an established Eastern population they might have made a full continental sweep on their own -- that is, once the human modified landscapes they seem to prefer became sufficiently widespread.
 
I've been following this interesting discussion.......as house finch is a western species, wouldn't the Rockies not act as a natural barrier for this non migratory species, had they not been introduced as a 'pet/curiosity' on the East Coast?
 
Robert / Seattle said:
Which would support my suggestion that in the absence of an established Eastern population they might have made a full continental sweep on their own -- that is, once the human modified landscapes they seem to prefer became sufficiently widespread.
Click to expand...

In addition, I have read that there is a widespread belief among North American House Finches in their "manifest destiny" to reach across the continent and span from one ocean to the other. ;)

joannechattaway said:
I've been following this interesting discussion.......as house finch is a western species, wouldn't the Rockies not act as a natural barrier for this non migratory species, had they not been introduced as a 'pet/curiosity' on the East Coast?
Click to expand...

I think it depends on how adaptable the species is. The Rockies have not prevented a host of species that were introduced or first colonized in the East from spreading west -- e.g. House Sparrow, European Starling, Eurasian Collared-Dove. House Finches are pretty adaptable (they readily adapt to desert environments, for example), so one could plausibly argue they might have eventually made it on their own. Though one book I have does suggest they are typically found below 6000 feet.

Best,
Jim
 
J. Moore said:
...
I think it depends on how adaptable the species is. The Rockies have not prevented a host of species that were introduced or first colonized in the East from spreading west -- e.g. House Sparrow, European Starling, Eurasian Collared-Dove. House Finches are pretty adaptable (they readily adapt to desert environments, for example), so one could plausibly argue they might have eventually made it on their own. Though one book I have does suggest they are typically found below 6000 feet.

Best,
Jim
Click to expand...

I quite agree. Contrary to popular belief, the Rockies are not a continuous, high elevation barrier. There are numerous and sizeable gaps between the various ranges, as anyone who has driven across the continent on the major Interstate Highways can attest. Historically, the Oregon and Santa Fe Trails followed that very type of lower elevation corridor - conceivably this hardy bird could have done the same.
 
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Robert / Seattle said:
I quite agree. Contrary to popular belief, the Rockies are not a continuous, high elevation barrier. There are numerous and sizeable gaps between the various ranges, as anyone who has driven across the continent on the major Interstate Highways can attest. Historically, the Oregon and Santa Fe Trails followed that very type of lower elevation corridor - conceivably this hardy bird could have done the same.
Click to expand...

Yes, I agree, especially given the fact that according to the maps referred to in Post #23, the western population had crossed the mountains in the southwestern states some years before meeting and merging with the introduced population coming in from the east. So there's no reason not to think that the final filling in of the gaps was the result of active colonization on the part of both populations, not just the rapidly expanding easterners.
 
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