CBH Talk | The Sparrow in the Archive: A Small Brooklyn Bird with a Global Story

In the mid-nineteenth century, the house sparrow was intentionally introduced to cities across the colonial world. Today this small brown bird is often dismissed as a pest—but its history tells a much larger story about migration, empire, and the reshaping of urban environments. Brooklyn played a surprising role in that story: one of the earliest successful introductions of the species in the Americas took place here, helping the sparrow become one of the most widespread birds on the continent.

In this talk, Argentine-Australian artist and researcher Dr. Fernando do Campo traces the origins of Brooklyn’s sparrows and the myths that surround their arrival. Drawing on archival materials from the Brooklyn Public Library, the Brooklyn Museum, and Green-Wood Cemetery, he revisits the nineteenth-century effort to introduce the birds, an episode that included Brooklynites caring for dozens of sparrows during the winter of 1856 before releasing them the following spring.

Blending art, history, and environmental storytelling, do Campo reflects on how contemporary artists can engage archives to uncover overlooked narratives. Through his own artworks and research, he explores how the sparrow’s global journey—from England to cities across the world—offers a new way to think about migration, belonging, and the intertwined histories of humans and animals in urban life. Following his presentation, do Campo will be in conversation with artist Umber Majeed.