Are House Finches a Threat to Bluebirds? Curious Connection Explored
2,597
Published 2023-09-05
If you're a new bluebird host, this influx of house finches getting up close and personal with bluebirds might seem alarming, especially if you've dealt with past house sparrow attacks.
In this video, we not only answer the question of whether house finches are a direct threat to bluebirds, we uncover another concerned that even seasoned bluebird hosts should considered.
Finally, we examine the claim of whether house finches actually drive out the house sparrow population.
RESOURCES:
Nest Hollow Website:
Visit www.nesthollow.com for more information about songbird care, and especially backyard bird conservation. Nest Hollow takes backyard birding to a higher level where we inspire true conservation and stewardship.
Bluebird Playlist:
• Bluebirds
Photography and Video Information:
Nest Hollow strives to use its own photos as much as possible. A significant amount of photography and video footage in this video was generated by us.
We want to thank Marla Birk for generously contributing the photo of her finch at the feeder. When we informed her about the eye infection, she took quick action to stop the spread.
A small number of images were purchased through Canva or Shutterstock. We would have loved to have generated these images ourselves, but nature is not always cooperative.
All nature and wildlife images that Nest Hollow generates is done in an ethical manner with a lot of distance in place and or with devices that are not intrusive to wildlife.
REFERENCES
Amonett, S. D. (2020). Transgenerational Effects Of Mycoplasma Gallisepticum Infection In Eastern Bluebirds (Sialia Sialis) (Doctoral dissertation, The University of Mississippi).
Denton, M. X. (2019). Effects of Vertical Transmission of Maternal Antibodies to Mycoplasma Gallisepticum on Growth and Condition of Eastern Bluebird Nestlings (Sialia Sialis).
Dhondt, A. A., Tessaglia, D. L., & Slothower, R. L. (1998). Epidemic mycoplasmal conjunctivitis in house finches from eastern North America. Journal of Wildlife Diseases, 34(2), 265-280.
Farmer, K. L., Hill, G. E., & Roberts, S. R. (2005). Susceptibility of wild songbirds to the house finch strain of Mycoplasma gallisepticum. Journal of Wildlife Diseases, 41(2), 317-325.
Fry, M. A. (2019). Effects of Mycoplasma gallisepticum on experimentally infected Eastern Bluebirds (Sialia sialis).
Ley, D. H., Berkhoff, J. E., & McLaren, J. M. (1996). Mycoplasma gallisepticum isolated from house finches (Carpodacus mexicanus) with conjunctivitis. Avian diseases, 480-483.
Line, L. (1995, December 12). Epidemic is killing house finches while other songbirds are spared. The New York Times. www.nytimes.com/1995/12/12/science/epidemic-is-kil…
All Comments (7)
-
I observe this a lot in the winter when bluebirds and house finches arrive at about the same time at my feeders. They might not be eating the same foods or from the same feeder, but seem to travel together for protection from predators.
-
Thank you for your scholarly approach to investigating this topic and other concerns on your channel. It is refreshing to find someone who actually looks for peer reviewed studies which are published in journals for professional scientists. This type of research needs to guide those of us who are bird hobbyists, and I appreciate your efforts.
-
Great video - thank you!
-
I Just found your channel and slightly upset because I see you reply to everyone's question. I rarely see them give a thanks or a thumbs up. That would make you feel like they didn't receive your reply. Many thanks for you sharing your info. New subscriber🙂🐦
-
You're right about that disease, house sparrows literally give me PTSD just thinking about them. Looks like a beautiful monarch butterfly behind you.
-
Great video! Very informative! I had this recently! As you said after first fledge, I saw what I thought at a distance was a house sparrow harassing the bluebirds, but with binoculars discovered it was a house finch! It would follow bluebirds to and away from nestbox! Bizarre! Thanks for another great show!
