Gorrión

House Sparrow

It wasn’t until I left my country that I started to appreciate the beauty of this little bird. Back in Chile, we don’t normally see striking birds in the city. There are no tits, siskins, finches, or robins. Most birds seemed grey or brown—nothing particularly remarkable. And they were always there, effortlessly, as if without reason.

It was in England that I first encountered the habit of buying bird food to place in your garden, to attract birds—because they don’t simply appear as they do in Chile; they need to be “invited.” The idea that something so ordinary had to be “paid for” to be present, and that so many shops even featured house sparrows on packaging—as if they were a species worth actively attracting—completely surprised me.

Over time, I began to appreciate their beauty, their details, their design, if you will, alongside the more obviously striking tits, finches, and robins. I felt a bit foolish, even unfair, for having overlooked them when I was younger.

Dimensions: 25×25 CM