CPAC 2025 is a flurry of human activity. Vendors and politicians, journalists ranging from legacy media to the independent media to bloggers, podcasters, street-corner shouters, people hawking swag, and attendees with a wide variety of interests and expectations.
But the venue, the Gaylord National Resort & Convention Center in National Harbor, Maryland - right across the river from the nation's capital - has its own population, a permanent, internal population, and no, I'm not talking about the fine, dedicated people who work there. The Gaylord is, like many large, open venues, home to a sizable colony of one of the most adaptable and widespread critters on the planet, that is the House Sparrow, Passer domesticus.
The Cornell Lab's All About Birds website says about the House Sparrow:
House Sparrows are noisy sparrows that flutter down from eaves and fencerows to hop and peck at crumbs or birdseed. Look for them flying in and out of nest holes hidden behind shop signs or in traffic lights, or hanging around parking lots waiting for crumbs and picking insects off car grills.
House Sparrows have lived around humans for centuries. Look for them on city streets, taking handouts in parks and zoos, or cheeping from a perch on your roof or trees in your yard. House Sparrows are absent from undisturbed forests and grasslands, but they’re common in countryside around farmsteads.
These little, buff-colored birds, also known as English sparrows, are found in a lot of big, open buildings as well. The Denver International Airport, for example, is home to three separate colonies, one in each concourse. The Gaylord has its colony, mostly found in the central atrium, where there are food vendors and dining areas that leave the scraps that the birds feed on. The trees placed in the atrium provide roosting spots, and the little birds nest in various nooks and niches around the structure.
See Related: The Wonderfulness of CPAC - a Firsthand Experience
There's a catch, though (there's always a catch) in the story of these interesting little birds: They are, in fact, illegal aliens. (Birthright citizenship, we feel certain, doesn't apply to birds.) They don't belong here, not in Maryland, not in North America. They are native to Europe, the Mediterranean, and much of Asia. The first birds were brought to the United States in 1851, intended to be a check on the Linden moth, which was plaguing the eastern United States at the time. But the little birds' adaptability and robust immune systems, plus their uncanny ability to thrive and prosper near human settlements, allowed them to quickly expand across the continent.
Populations of these birds have actually been declining in recent years, but when you consider it's down from an estimated global peak of almost a billion-and-a-half birds, that's not a huge worry. The sparrows used to find a lot of feed in waste from draft horse feed bags, spillage from carts hauling agricultural products into the cities, and human waste from a million sources; but our cities are a lot cleaner now.
Which brings us back to the Gaylord.
Here, in the CPAC 2025 venue, these bright, cheery, adaptable little birds have found a new habitat: Safe, warm, and protected from predators. It's an interesting side note to CPAC, and it's a tribute to one of the most adaptable species on the planet.