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Gaining grain
House sparrows mainly eat plants, whatever the
time of year. Sparrows have chunky, seed-eater's beaks, and they
will tackle all manner of seeds and grain.
They either separate the seed from its husk with
their beak or they pull the seed apart to get to the good bit - the
starch that the seed would have used when it was time to grow. We
use this same starch to make flour for bread. This is why many
birds are happy to eat scraps of bread from your
birdtable.