I need a little help on this one, if anyone can be of help. I photographed this bird last month down in the Big Bend area of West Texas. I feel that it is one of the sparrow species, but I am enough of a novice to admit that I may be wrong about that. 🙂
Unknown - un-retouched
You may click on the image to see an enlargement.
Texas Tweeties by Bob Zeller 
Oh the internet is wonderful, isn’t it? Ask and you shall receive, indeed!
Thanks for the link to your previous post about San Angelo State Park – it looks very promising and we will certainly try to get there in April.
When I looked again at my reply to this current post about the House Sparrow I noticed that I somehow inadvertently identified as a female. It is of course quite clearly a male. Sorry about that.
In reply to Jim Miller, we also have problems over here from introduced species. We have got the American Grey Squirrel that is gradually taking over from our native Red Squirrel. Both are very cute but there are now very few Reds left and the Greys are culled in some areas. Some folks love the Greys and actively feed and encourage them into their gardens.
It sounds like there is a real “swap-fest” going on between the US and the UK when it comes to wildlife. 🙂
Thanks for your comments, Dave.
Bob
He looks like a House Sparrow.
And that is what it is. ::-)
You’re right Bob, it’s a female House Sparrow.
They used to be a very common bird here in the UK but their numbers have dropped alarmingly although we still get lots in our garden where we feed them.
If you have got any unwanted ones – please send them home to the UK.
My wife and I will be visiting the Texas Hill Country again next April and we may be able to visit your San Angelo park. You have made it sound so interesting.
Dave Hassell
Thanks for writing, Dave. I also sent you a direct e-mail. Here is a link to a previous post about the post. https://bobzeller.wordpress.com/2009/09/23/san-angelo-state-park/.
About the House Sparrow. I showed my ignorance there, i should have known what it was. They are all over the place here. There was just something about that image that threw me for a bit. Hope to see you in April.
If we were allowed to do so, Dave, I’m sure many American birders would help repatriate them and might help pay the freight 🙂 From just a few birds brought over as pets, they have spread literally from sea to shining sea in the New World, pushing out many of our native species.
Wow! Glad I opened your comments, Bob! I was just about to go off into research mode. 🙂
Now, I’ll have to get back to work – maybe…
Mike Erb of San Angelo solved it for me. It is a House Sparrow. I missed it because when I looked at all the sparrows in my Stokes book, I thought I had checked every one. However, the House Sparrow is listed with the Old World Sparrows, and I had forgotten that.
Bob