The Sparrow and the Uirapuru-Laranja

When I lived in Brazil I was asked what birds we have in Canada. I recall one Brazilian asking whether we have these little common brown birds. She was pointing to the ubiquitous house sparrow. Of course, the answer was yes, we have sparrows.

The sparrow made me feel at home in Brazil and that was what he was intended to do. Sparrows are native to Eurasia and North Africa, but during the 19th century, “settlers of European origin intentionally introduced the house sparrow to North and South America, southern Africa, Australia and new Zealand.” Their hope was that the sparrow would control insects and “create a familiar landscape for immigrants."(1)

I mention a sparrow in my novel set in Brazil. He flutters between the delicate black capped heron, the engineering Rufus Horneo, and the squawking Hyacinth macaw.

Yesterday, I found a little children's book about a sparrow written in Ukrainian (I have a few Russian, Ukrainian, German, and French) story books. I read the first page: "The little sparrow sings a little song 'cheev, cheev'.” He has six brothers--guaranteed mischief. I have to read the story to find out more. I'm curious if the illustrator shows the sparrows taking a dirt bath--always amusing.

Sparrows are everywhere. When in Washington D.C. recently, I viewed some Japanese screens at the Freer and Sackler galleries. I was drawn to a one-foot square screen that was originally used as a cupboard cover. With loose brush strokes the artist had recreated the flight of a little sparrow.

The sparrow is plain compared to a cardinal or blue jay here in Canada. And in Brazil, well, the contrast is enormous. Its juxtaposition in that landscape is interesting because it makes me think about my novel. Many years ago, in one of my many drafts, I actually had the metmorph (main character) descend from metamorphs on both sides of her family. It was a little too much, but it's easy to get caught up in an idea. Nino Ricci told me, too many metamorphs diminish the impact of the main metamorph. So I needed a lot of sparrows and one exotic bird.

(One exotic bird: UIRAPURU-LARANJA (Pipra fasciicauda) Band-tailed Manakin. Photo by
Haroldo Palo Jr.)