In many ways the house sparrow shares a similar history and causes some of the same problems as the European starling. House sparrows appeared in Brooklyn in the early 1850s. Their remarkable colonization of North America took less than 50 years. The house sparrow is not a true sparrow, but belongs to an Old World group known as weaverbirds. As the name suggests, house sparrows are a species that enjoys a close association with humans and their dwellings.
House sparrows are at home in cities and towns, as well as around barns and feedlots in the country.
Like starlings, house sparrows nest in cavities and are aggressive competitors of native birds. They are probably more troublesome than starlings in some ways. Small cavity-nesting species like chickadees, titmice, wrens, bluebirds and purple martins can fit through a cavity entrance too small to admit a starling. However, the smaller house sparrow is not excluded. House sparrows tenaciously claim bird houses and other cavities and will pierce the eggs and kill the nestlings of other species prior to taking over a cavity.