On 10 June 1986 at 07:00 I was bird-watching on Paga Hill before going into work when I heard a familiar call, but was unable to identify the species. The source of the call was tracked down to a rubbish collection area. The bird was feeding amongst the rubbish but when disturbed flew up onto some nearby telephone wires where it was identified as a female House Sparrow Passer domesticus. I watched it for about two minutes before it flew into some trees and could not be relocated. I saw the sparrow once more, and again only briefly, on 12 June, when it was perched on some more overhead wires in the company of two White-breasted Wood-swallows Artamus leucorhynchus. Unfortunately no other bird-watchers managed to see the sparrow. I am familiar with this species and its congener, the Tree Sparrow P. montanus in Europe. The following description is taken from the notes I made shortly after each observation.
It was two thirds the size of a White-breasted Wood-Swallow, the only species present with which to compare it, and of a similar chunky build. It had a heavy, pale seed-eaters bill. The underparts, from chin to vent, were a uniform brown-grey. The upperparts were a darker brown and heavily streaked with black on the mantle. Pale edgings to the wing coverts resulted in one obvious wing-bar and one less obvious. The most notable plumage feature was a broad pale supercilium which started behind the eye and went towards the back of the head.
The habitat on Paga Hill is mixed savanna (i.e. grassland with some trees and shrubs) with some houses and associated garden plants. This female House Sparrow first appeared after a month of continuous south-easterly winds. Assuming it was a true vagrant it would probably have originated in Australia where the nearest House Sparrows are at Cooktown, north Queensland (Pizzey 1980), some 700km SSW of Port Moresby. However the situation of Paga Hill less than 1km from Port Moresby's harbour, is probably more important than the habitat in which the sparrow was seen or the prevailing weather conditions prior to its arrival. As with the first record of this species in PNG, a party of four at Kila Kila (Ashford 1978), it is probably that this female arrived aboard ship.
Ashford, R.W. 1978. First record of House Sparrow for Papua New Guinea. Emu 78: 36
Pizzey, G. 1980. A Field Guide to the Birds of Australia. Collins. Sydney.
It was two thirds the size of a White-breasted Wood-Swallow, the only species present with which to compare it, and of a similar chunky build. It had a heavy, pale seed-eaters bill. The underparts, from chin to vent, were a uniform brown-grey. The upperparts were a darker brown and heavily streaked with black on the mantle. Pale edgings to the wing coverts resulted in one obvious wing-bar and one less obvious. The most notable plumage feature was a broad pale supercilium which started behind the eye and went towards the back of the head.
The habitat on Paga Hill is mixed savanna (i.e. grassland with some trees and shrubs) with some houses and associated garden plants. This female House Sparrow first appeared after a month of continuous south-easterly winds. Assuming it was a true vagrant it would probably have originated in Australia where the nearest House Sparrows are at Cooktown, north Queensland (Pizzey 1980), some 700km SSW of Port Moresby. However the situation of Paga Hill less than 1km from Port Moresby's harbour, is probably more important than the habitat in which the sparrow was seen or the prevailing weather conditions prior to its arrival. As with the first record of this species in PNG, a party of four at Kila Kila (Ashford 1978), it is probably that this female arrived aboard ship.
Ashford, R.W. 1978. First record of House Sparrow for Papua New Guinea. Emu 78: 36
Pizzey, G. 1980. A Field Guide to the Birds of Australia. Collins. Sydney.
(Originally published in Muruk 1(3):91)
