Breeding Success, Numbers, and Movements of House Sparrows at McLeansboro, Illinois

Abstract

A portion of McLeansboro was censused for breeding birds in 1966 and 1967 by a mapping technique patterned after Williams (1936). The area censused (Figure 1) comprises about 100 acres (40 hectares) and includes the main business district, residential areas, a cattail-bordered pond, a grain elevator, and two feed stores. The locations of active nest sites in 1966 and 1967 were also plotted. Observations on nests were made at three sites (Figure 2) within two miles (3.2 km) of McLeansboro. Two of the sites were farm lots where intensive livestock feeding was done. The third site was my backyard. Nests at the Sneed lot were observed in 1966, 1967, and the early part of 1968. In my backyard, observation of nests was carried out during 1966 and 1967, while at the R. B. Stelle lot nests were observed in 1967 and 1968.