When did common become a bad thing?

This is nothing against rare creatures, but the way I see it, this whole natural selection

game is won by getting your genes out there, and so if your species is common, doesn't

that mean you're playing quite well?

Doesn't that mean you're winning, or at least doing something right?

Something special? If so, then we are going to talk about a very special animal today,

one of the most widespread avian species on the planet, the house sparrow.

Passer Domesticus. I'm Mackin. This is Species. Hello and happy Species Sunday, or happy whatever day you're listening to this.

Today we are going to learn all about the house sparrow and their fantastic story.

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Thank you, Eric and the Animals for playing me in, and now, without further ado, I present to you, the house sparrow.

As a child, I saw house sparrows for years without knowing their name, but I could probably recognize a lion or a peacock or a dolphin from about the age of three,

and that's kind of weird, right? I hadn't seen any of those animals yet, but I had seen plenty of

house sparrows. They're everywhere, and yet they're invisible. But their abundance doesn't make them

boring. It makes them exceptional. Out of about 10,000 bird species, they are among the most

widespread in the world. And to even be in

that discussion is a big deal. I get it. People love exotic animals. I do too. We want to go to the

...