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House Sparrow decline (1 Viewer)

Andy Adcock

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Cyprus
I was just wondering if this current situation might provide a unique opportunity to get data, relevent to the suggestion that inner City pollution has been a major factor in the huge drop in House Sparrow numbers?

There will hopefully, never be another situation like this but with the huge drop in airborne pollutants, there will never be a better time to test the hypothesis?
 
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I thought it was changes in agricultural practices and such that were playing a bigger role in House Sparrow decline in their native range?

Seems odd that it would be pollution, given that House Sparrows seem to not have any problem in big cities in the US.
 
I thought it was changes in agricultural practices and such that were playing a bigger role in House Sparrow decline in their native range?

Seems odd that it would be pollution, given that House Sparrows seem to not have any problem in big cities in the US.

I don't think a definite answer was ever found but inner City pollution was considered to be a real suspect. I doubt that any of the House Sparrow around me have ever seen a field, they're urban birds.

They have been making a bit of a come back lately, in many areas.
 
Apparently there has been a decline stateside, but they are still an abundant bird, especially in urban settings. Honestly the decline here might be ag-related, given that i think it's the more rural populations on the decline.
 
The fact that House Sparrows have declined more in rural areas than they have in urban area seems to already disprove the pollution theory.

I do see more House Sparrows around Amish farms. I would assume that this is due to them using more primitive farming methods. I believe that their farming practices lead to move available food for the birds.
 
Wasn’t there a theory that the introduction of unleaded petrol had prompted a decline in urban areas ( some chemical additive or other?)?
 
I thought the main potentials were lack of nesting sites, with the introduction of eg plastic soffits in renovations and new builds, and other 'improvements' in old buildings. Changes in gardening (decking and patios) haven't helped. And removal of suitable garden hedging plants as fashions change.
 
Apparently there has been a decline stateside, but they are still an abundant bird, especially in urban settings. Honestly the decline here might be ag-related, given that i think it's the more rural populations on the decline.
Can you quote figures on that ?

Thanks, Mike.
 
Last year it was suggested avian malaria transmitted by mosquitoes was probably behind the decline, but I don't think this was 100% proved.

Suspect there is no one fits all answer to the decline, but various factors combining. Have plenty of House Sparrows in my London suburbs garden but have disappeared from most (all?) large central parks though many bird species do well there, including some insectivorous species.
 
I thought the main potentials were lack of nesting sites, with the introduction of eg plastic soffits in renovations and new builds, and other 'improvements' in old buildings. Changes in gardening (decking and patios) haven't helped. And removal of suitable garden hedging plants as fashions change.

There were a number of factors found, including sealing of facades reducing nest sites as mentioned here. Also a key factor was the absence of 'soft' food for the young at a critical stage of their development. This was put down to the use of pesticides in public parks and gardens (as well as farmland)

I remember that 'The Independent' newspaper put up a £5000 prize in 2000 for the answer. The link shows that the paper went for peer review in 2008, but I can't see if they paid out.
https://www.independent.co.uk/environment/nature/mystery-of-the-vanishing-sparrow-1026319.html

Andy's comment re unleaded petrol was postulated at one point, but again if I remember correctly debunked fairly quickly.

From my own experience, they have to be the most sedentary species I know. We moved into a new house 22 years ago, 100m from an existing population. In the first 10 years they had only got 50m and it took them a further 7 years to get here.

I did a BBS square for 10 years and they were only in a single bush for 8 of those years. The bush was then lost in a storm and despite there being plenty of habitat close by - no more sparrows!
 
From my own experience, they have to be the most sedentary species I know. We moved into a new house 22 years ago, 100m from an existing population. In the first 10 years they had only got 50m and it took them a further 7 years to get here.

I did a BBS square for 10 years and they were only in a single bush for 8 of those years. The bush was then lost in a storm and despite there being plenty of habitat close by - no more sparrows!

I can echo that, we've been living for four years now between two farms, cows and goats at one and sheep and chickens at the other, we're c300m from one and c500m from the other and each farm has nesting House Sparrows. Despite the generous helpings of bird food we (and our next door neighbours) provide between October and April the maximum total we've seen here is two! Most of the winter there were none, a male started to visit this past winter but never regularly.
 
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