Corvid ecologists

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The "problem" birds I have are (1) starlings that mob the other birds and try to empty all my feeders in a day, and (2) european house "sparrows" (actually weaver finches)

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House sparrows are real sparrows (genus passer). Next you will be saying that Erithacus rubecula isn't a "real" robin!

You mean according to some of the sources Google found. If you read more carefully you will find that the basis of this claim is the Old World sparrows are closely related to weaver finches while the New World sparrows are not.However, it seems clear to me that the term "sparrow" was originally applied to the Old World group (which is why they are also called "true sparrows"). So it would be more accurate to say that the New World sparrows aren't really sparrows.

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Curiously, in my book (NatGeo Field Guide to Birds of N. America) American sparrow species are on pages 386-407 in the "Grosbeaks, Buntings and Sparrows" section, and none of them are Family Passidae

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The explanation is simple. American "sparrows" are not sparrows. They were likely called sparrows for their resemblance to the true sparrows, but that hardly gives them an exclusive claim to the name over the European birds.

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So "sparrow" is just a general nomenclature for small seed eating birds and has no real taxonomic basis

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Most common bird names have more to do with resemblance than taxonomy. However, the term "sparrow" is not completely divorced from taxonomy. Which is why we say that the House Sparrow is a sparrow while the "Hedge Sparrow" is not.