So house sparrow congregating near my house’s Ac unit a normal behavior for the bird specie? They been doing it for a while so need opinions from bird experts on this topic.
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Welcome to the forum!
I’m not a bird expert, but I would think that if the birds are hanging out there , it is because it meets their needs in some way. I’m assuming you are in the northern hemisphere and it is winter there, because of the bare trees in the background. The top of the aircon is obviously a sheltered spot, and perhaps it is warmer than the surroundings in cold weather (if it is running).
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Top of the AC must be a warmer microclimate than the surrounding areas, so the sparrows use this (and other human-made cavities) to survive the winter.
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If it’s cold, it may be shelter, but if the weather is warmer, it might be a location for a possible nesting site. They usually like more enclosed locations, but the ceiling height might be right if other locations aren’t available. If it’s a prospective nest site, the male will probably be singing from or near it and females will visit to inspect. That looks like male and female to me.
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As House Sparrows are invasive in the United States, they take advantage of all of the places that they possibly can. If this photo was taking in the spring, they might be thinking about nesting somewhere in that area, like @joedziewa mentioned.
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Around us in upstate New York, a warm, sunny day in late January can be enough for sites to start getting advertising. There’s one that has a few places picked out on neighboring properties here that was singing today. It will get more intense in the coming weeks. It’s easier to keep them from overrunning attempts to feed or house natives if a male doesn’t have a nest near. It’s easier to keep them from nesting if there’s no other house sparrow nests or easy food near.
They kill native birds like bluebirds and chickadees and their population here is mostly sustained unwittingly by people who want a cheap and easy way to have something nice to look at outside their window and feel like a nurturer about. Things look different away from the window feeders
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