A male house sparrow guards the nest he has carefully built, in this painting by 19th-century English bird illustrator John Gould. The house sparrow was one of the most successful birds brought to New Zealand by settlers from Britain. Of the 130 bird species introduced, less than a third established wild populations. The house sparrow lives everywhere in New Zealand except for the high country, as it habitually lives in close association with people.
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National Library of Australia
Reference:
John Gould, The birds of Great Britain. Vol. 3. London: Taylor and Francis, 1873, p. 69
Hand-coloured lithograph by John Gould
Permission of the National Library of Australia must be obtained before any re-use of this image.
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