Bird at Feeder (Central Alberta/Saskatchewan in Canada) (1 Viewer)

[rurban]

Hello. Pine siskin on the left, unknown bird to the right. Eating black oil sunflower seed at a feeder in backyard in Lloydminster (on the border between Alberta and Saskatchewan). This one comes from my dad - I know it looks like it could be a female house sparrow, but he says it's much larger and not the same colour as other sparrows also in the yard.

Thank you!

 

[Farnboro John]

Yes, but a House Sparrow is an Old World sparrow and what North Americans call sparrows are actually buntings so they do look different and many are smaller...

It's a female House Sparrow.

Cheers

John

 

[ClarkWGriswold]

Agree with House Sparrow and welcome to BirdForum from all the staff and moderators.

Rich

 

[Microtus]

Welcome! That is a female House Sparrow on the feeder with the Pine Siskin.

 

[KC Foggin]

Yup! A female House Sparrow!

 

[Tired]

That's a female House Sparrow, though it does seem to be a slightly larger one than I usually see. Maybe she had some genetic dice rolls align to make her unusually big.

 

[Butty]

Female or unsexable juvenile house sparrow. It's the same size as every other house sparrow.

 

[Sangahyando]

It's normal for House Sparrows to be visibly bigger than siskins. FWIW, the weights of thoese two species given in the Sibley guide are 15 g (Pine Siskin) and 28 g (House Sparrow), respectively.