House Sparrow and Purple Martin fighting

This little male House Sparrow was very aggressive and was attacking

this Purple Martin that was almost twice his size!

 

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Excellent capture of the sparrow's face. Sharp picture.

This is why Seattle's purple martin population crashed in the early 1900s. Purple martins were one of the first species to benefit from urbanization -- the brick buildings provided a great number of nest sites, and there were more martins in town than out in the rural or natural areas. But then the house sparrow was introduced, and martin numbers plummeted. Same story with starlings and other cavity-nesting birds, but more recent. Great capture of the birds.

nice capture

Good series of shots, this is my favourite.