house sparrow behavior
Posted by Peggy Robertson on July 30, 2005
Q: I have noticed groups of house sparrows congregating in an area of the yard that is dirt. They flap around forming a bowl shape in the dirt and sit in it. What is this behavior?
A: You were seeing some interesting behavior - the sparrows were dust-bathing. This is a behavior that is quite common among some birds and although it is regularly attributed to their attempt at removing parasites, there is no good research that supports this. Believe it or not, my wife's master's thesis was on dust-bathing in Bobwhite Quail. My wife found that her birds preferred soil that was slightly moist, not totally dry and dusty as the name would imply.
Why birds dust-bath is still uncertain and more research is needed on this behavior but they sure do seem to enjoy it. Interestingly enough, House Sparrows are a species that both water bathe AND dust bathe - most birds don't do both. Thanks for a good question.
John Wiessinger ( August 3, 2005)