# Why Don't Sparrows Migrate? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [January 18, 2019, 2:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-dont-sparrows-migrate/827979 "2019-01-18T14:28:23Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 12\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Two\_Many\_Cats](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/8dc957/32.png) [@Two\_Many\_Cats](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Two_Many_Cats)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2019, 2:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-dont-sparrows-migrate/827979/1 "2019-01-18T14:28:23Z")
Plenty of open dumpsters? Lots of people tossing bread around? Because sparrows are tough little bastards and don’t mind winter? I asked one, but it hopped away without answering. And I had doughnuts in my hand and everything. So why do sparrows stick around? ---
**Author:** ![senoy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/dbc845/32.png) [@senoy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/senoy)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2019, 2:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-dont-sparrows-migrate/827979/2 "2019-01-18T14:51:42Z")
Diet. They are opportunistic feeders that primarily feed on seeds, but they can digest a wide variety of things. A very general rule of thumb is that birds that are specialized feeders of flying insects, nectar or green vegetation migrate. Birds that feed on under bark grubs, seeds or nuts or are generalized feeders don’t. ---
**Author:** ![Xema](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/x/9de053/32.png) [@Xema](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Xema)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2019, 3:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-dont-sparrows-migrate/827979/3 "2019-01-18T15:05:43Z")
Some sparrow species do migrate. One example is the [White-crowned sparrow](https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/White-crowned_Sparrow/overview). You’re probably thinking of the House Sparrow, which mostly doesn’t migrate - though high-altitude birds may move lower in winter. Migration isn’t an abstract instinct with birds, but rather a way to exploit food and nesting resources that may be widely separated in different seasons. ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2019, 3:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-dont-sparrows-migrate/827979/4 "2019-01-18T15:21:45Z")
\*\*Why Don’t Sparrows Migrate? \*\* The Coconuts are too heavy. And most of them can’t find a “creeper buddy” ---
**Author:** ![DSYoungEsq](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/c6cbf5/32.png) [@DSYoungEsq](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DSYoungEsq)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2019, 5:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-dont-sparrows-migrate/827979/5 "2019-01-18T17:12:18Z")
> [@CalMeacham](#): > > \*\*Why Don’t Sparrows Migrate? > \*\* > > The Coconuts are too heavy. I can’t swallow that answer. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![GESancMan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gesancman/32/2923_2.png) [@GESancMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GESancMan)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2019, 6:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-dont-sparrows-migrate/827979/6 "2019-01-18T18:14:34Z")
I saw this thread this morning, when there were no replies yet. I so badly wanted to reply with “what do you mean, African swallows or European swallows?” But, GQ… ---
**Author:** ![2Bits](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/2/e95f7d/32.png) [@2Bits](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/2Bits)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2019, 4:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-dont-sparrows-migrate/827979/7 "2019-01-19T16:47:50Z")
House Sparrows (or English Sparrows) are not even true sparrows. They’re from the Weaver Finch family. ---
**Author:** ![Tamerlane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tamerlane/32/7602_2.png) [@Tamerlane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tamerlane)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2019, 4:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-dont-sparrows-migrate/827979/8 "2019-01-19T16:59:55Z")
> [@2Bits](#): > > House Sparrows (or English Sparrows) are not even true sparrows. They’re from the Weaver Finch family. Actually they literally are one of the [“true” sparrows](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sparrow), it is the [American sparrows](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_sparrow) that are the red-haired stepchildren in the naming game ;). That’s because all of those names were doled out in Europe first. ---
**Author:** ![Frank\_Burly](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/frank_burly/32/24_2.png) [@Frank\_Burly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frank_Burly)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2019, 5:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-dont-sparrows-migrate/827979/9 "2019-01-19T17:10:19Z")
House Sparrows are an introduced non-migratory species from the Middle East, and they can survive very cold temperatures even though they’re a desert bird in their original range. Most native sparrows that breed in Canada and the northern US are migratory. ---
**Author:** ![Carryon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/9fc29f/32.png) [@Carryon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Carryon)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2019, 5:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-dont-sparrows-migrate/827979/10 "2019-01-19T17:25:17Z")
Bird migrate for one reason basically and that is food. Even birds which are not carnivores, will feed their babies protein, in the form of insects and such. Thus adults fly north and eat and feed their babies. We tend to think of birds as fragile because they are small and we could snap them like a wishbone. But being small they can get into small places, fluff up their feathers and they are comfortable. As long as a bird has access to food, they don’t have much trouble fighting off the cold. So if they can find food, they tend not to migrate. I have a lot of year round robins where I live up north. ---
**Author:** ![Frank\_Burly](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/frank_burly/32/24_2.png) [@Frank\_Burly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frank_Burly)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2019, 5:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-dont-sparrows-migrate/827979/11 "2019-01-19T17:41:58Z")
> [@Carryon](#): > > Birds migrate for one reason basically and that is food. That’s not exactly true. Most exclusively insect-eating birds can’t survive cold even if they have food, which is why many of them winter in the tropics. ---
**Author:** ![Jackmannii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackmannii/32/311_2.png) [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2019, 6:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-dont-sparrows-migrate/827979/12 "2019-01-19T18:32:08Z")
> [@Carryon](#): > > Thus adults fly north and eat and feed their babies. Do they feed them _before_ eating them?