Weekend Birding: Sparrows Enjoy a Dust Bath
I have an abundance of baby House Sparrows in my yard this summer. They are very social and adaptable little birds who seem to enjoy being around humans. Especially if those human provide food, shelter, water and natural areas. To the little sparrows, my yard is a five star resort.
A few weeks ago I got to watch them take a dust bath, something I had heard about but never witnessed. I have several bird baths and often see them splashing around in the water, but I had never seen them bathing in the dust.
Near my potting table is an area where some dirt spilled and I swept it to the side but didn’t shovel it clean. Soon the sparrows were flapping their wings and rolling around in the fine dry soil stirring up dust. I wish I would have thought to grab the video camera. They were moving so fast it was difficult to capture a clear still shot.
One little guy was on his back rolling around like a dog. They all ended up completely covered in dust. When they ruffled their feathers I could see a poof of dust in the air. After they were done flapping around, they preened their feathers clean. They did this several times over the next few days.
So why would they do this? Especially since I have five bird baths in my yard. The theory is it’s to get rid of parasites on their skin and feathers that water can’t remove. The dust smothers the parasites, such as mites, and also absorbs excess oil. After preening, their feathers are clean. Sort of like using a dry shampoo. Apparently it worked. I haven’t seen them in the dirt again.
Next time your yard gets a little messy, you can always say you are leaving it that way for the birds.
Saturday Snapshot is hosted by Alyce at At Home With Books. Visit her blog to see more great photos or add your own.
© 2012 Under My Apple Tree. All rights reserved.
Under My Apple Tree 
These are such great pics. It’s clear that the sparrow in the second picture is clearly entering nirvana!
I love birds.
One is currently trapped in our warehouse at work. I feel so bad for the thing, it is a gorgeous bird, and somehow got in there and we can’t get it out, back into the wild. So every day this week I have set out a fresh big pan of water and some cut up cherries [which it loves] and seeds. But what is so amazing is that rather than DRINK the water, the bird tends to splash it around everywhere….. taking baths, I guess. It makes a real mess.
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Poor thing, I hope it finds a way back out soon.
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You”ve done a lovely job of capturing the sparrows with your camera. As an Australian though with a major (imported) sparrow problem, it’s a little hard for to see them as cute and adorable instead of vermin! Thank you for helping to see another perspective – to change the lens with which I view the world, if you will 🙂
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House sparrows are a problem here in the US too. They are not native here either and compete with our native species for nesting cavities.
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Oh my that’s adorable, it’s rolling around! I wish I had seen that, great snap of it!
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In Australia, sparrows are a major problem to our local flora and fauna – they are considered vermin. Your post has shown me that if viewed in a natural habitat, they can be seen as cute and adorbale instead! You did a great job capturing them in action.
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Lovely bird photos as always Leslie. I’ve seen our magpies doing similar things- splayed out in the dirt, not rolling around though, not sure that they’re doing the same thing. It’s usually been in the spring, I’ll try and get photos of them this year.
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Great pictures! They are so sweet & adorable. I look forward to your weekend birding pictures every Saturday! 🙂
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We have loads of little sparrows at the feeder as well. I never knew about the dust baths though –how interesting.
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It must have been a good spring for house sparrows. I have a lot of them too, more than usual.
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Love the look on the last bird’s face 🙂 Wonderful pics!
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Don’t you just love sharing your yard with bird families! The photos are great!
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I always look forward to your bird photos. I thought of you yesterday when I saw some little shore birds, wondering what kinds of birds they were. I thought you would know for sure. Here’s Mine
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It makes a lot of sense but I’d never heard of a dust bath!
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Wow, I learn something new about birds every week when I come here…lol. Who knew that dust baths were part of their grooming? Thanks for sharing.
Here’s MY SATURDAY SNAPSHOT POST
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I’m really enjoying your bird photos!
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Great pics! I have watched sparrows dust bathing with gay abandon!
Here is my Saturday Snapshot post!
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I think I’d heard of a dust bath but didn’t know who’d want one. 😉 This makes sense though. Thanks for more great pics and education about our feathered friends.
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You take wonderful pictures! I really enjoy your posts.
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How cool that you got to watch the birds frolic in the dust! I can see why that would be hard to capture in a still shot.
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Amazing!! I love your photos! I’ve never seen a dust bath before and didn’t know much about it either. That’s so clever, and how great that you got to see it! We have a lot of sparrows around here so I guess I’ll have to watch them closer. And keep my camera handy!
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Very cool! When we lived in the city, we were overrun with house sparrows. I saw them on a number of occassions “bathing” in the neighbours sandbox. After that I filled an old leaky bird bath with fine sand for them to use. They used it a few times, but they still prefered the big sand box next door. Great job capturing them. I especially love the one little guy on his back. 😉
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I like the idea of putting out some sand for them. Now I’m wondering if any of the other birds do this also.
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I absolutely LOVED the second photo. You can almost see the bliss on his little face!! I’ve only witnessed a dust bath once and it was neat to watch these little guys have their fun!
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Enjoyed your blog…great bird photos♫♪
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What a ritural, mother nature is wonderful with her natural remedies. Wonderful shots, I shall remember to leave some dirt about. I have seen pigeons do this but no other birds.
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awesome! great shots….well done!
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I’ve seen birds dust bathing, but didn’t get a picture. Been away from a week, so I’m catching up. My Saturday Snapshot is at http://goo.gl/a62PX
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LOL one was rolling around like a dog…hilarious.
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Wonderful photos, as usual, Leslie!
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