Tree Sparrow
Editors note: We thought we would fly out of 2020 and into 2021 leaving the guano behind
The Tree Sparrow(Passer montanus) was first spotted in Sandakan in 1964, the next year in Kuching and in Brunei town in 1969-1970. No other bird has so swiftly and successfully populated Borneo Island. The birds seem to have come from a cargo ship from Hong Kong where it is well established.
The Tree Sparrow seems to thrive on the refuse produced by residents of the towns. No other bird (at the time) seems to able to fill that niche. Their spread and speed seems impressive.
Plenty of native Borneo birds have filled the niche of back yard gardens. They have included the Magpie Robin, Pied Triller and Yellow Vent Bulbul but these and other species need trees and bushes as nesting sites.
According to Harrisson, the initial birds seemed to have arrived in Bandar Seri Begwan in late 1969 or early 1970. By 1972 and seemed to have increased by one hundred.
Harrisson continues that the expansion of the Tree Sparrow will not continue. He cites the example of the Java Sparrow. (He was wrong.)
(From Birds of Borneo by Quentin Phillips 2009)
The Java Sparrow was introduced in 1880 but after a many years remain a small and localized population in Kota Kinabalu, Kuching and Jerudong. In the 1880’s it was reported in large numbers in Banjermassin but are not seen there today. In 1893, Munia predicted the Java Sparrow would increase in population from Labuan but this has not happened. In Java and Bali it was considered a serious pest of the rice fields but due to extensive trappings for the cage bird trade the bird is considered scarce.
Sarawak Status of the Tree Sparrow in Sarawak Museum Journal December 1971
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