Habitat: This warbler inhabits mesquite woodlands and riparian vegetation with willows and cottonwoods from Nevada to the southwestern United States.
Nest: Nests of Lucy’s warblers are usually located in tree cavities or under loose bark in willows, cottonwoods and mesquite. Ironwood, palo verde, and catclaw have also been used for nest trees (Robbins et al. 1966, Bent 1953, Peterson 1961).
Food: Insects are the major food items in the diet of Lucy’s warbler (Bent 1953).
House sparrow
Passer domesticus
L 5¼″
Habitat: House sparrows are well known associates of man, thriving in towns and urban situations. They are also birds of the suburban-rural landscape (Summers-Smith 1963). Optimum habitat requirements are perhaps best met around buildings where waste grain from poultry and livestock feeding can be found. The species is scarce or absent from densely forested and desert regions uninhabited by man (Kalmbach 1940).
Nest: House sparrows nest in eaves, crevices, and holes in buildings; in vines and creepers on walls; in the branches of trees; in nest boxes and natural cavities in trees; and in other assorted locations, perhaps in that order of importance. Open tree nests may be built more often in warmer latitudes, but females seem to prefer hole nests (Cink 1976). Nesting cavities of cliff and bank swallows and house finches may be usurped. Nests are usually at least 6 to 8 feet from the ground, may be as high as 50 feet, and groups or colonies are not uncommon. Nests are domed whether in cavities or the open. House sparrows all too readily accept bird houses erected for purple martins, bluebirds, and other species.
Food: Kalmbach’s (1940) study of the contents of 4,848 stomachs of suburban-rural birds indicated that adult and juvenile (non-nestling) house sparrows take 3.4 percent animal material throughout the year, particularly dung beetles, May beetles, and other Scarabaeidae. Grain from poultry yards, etc., made up the largest percentage of vegetable material (31.5 to 84.2 percent), followed by seeds of grasses and weeds (17 percent), and oats other than that in feed (14.4 percent). Ragweed, crabgrass, smartweed, and pigweed were important plants in the grass and weed category.