Are House Sparrows in danger?

Everett · 06-07-2010 12:38pm #1

A friend of mine mentioned that he heard house sparrows where in danger, whatever there using in the petrol nowadays, the fumes are killing the grubs which they feed there young, can anyone shed any light on this matter?

ytpe2r5bxkn0c1 · 06-07-2010 4:04pm

They are Red status and numbers are certainly in decline over the past couple of decades. The cause is many-fold. Changes in farming practices, how we build our homes, insecticides etc. all have a part to play. The fuel argument was debunked many years ago!

StephenHendry · 06-07-2010 4:13pm

i didn't know that, anytime i go home to my parents house we always have loads of them around

Feargal as Luimneach · 06-07-2010 4:16pm

Exact causes of decline in cities unknown

Mothman · 06-07-2010 9:07pm

They do seem sensitive to change in their surroundings.

Always had them on farm, until the main house got gutted and rebuilt. With all the associated site work, they gone

Kess73 · 06-07-2010 11:13pm

I have them in big numbers for the last few weeks, with loads of young, and should have them until about October/November. Pretty much the same each year.

In the winter and spring I get swamped with Redpoll each year, then around May the redpoll start to move on bar the small number that stay in my area all year round, and the sparrows start to arrive, and from July to about Oct/Nov I get huge numbers of sparrows.

As a result I have now taken in some of the niger feeders and have had to replace them with extra seed feeders for the sparrows. The sparrows would be going through about 20kg of mixed seed plus an assortment of suet and fruit each week, plus the small number of crafty ones who have figured out that I give live food to some of the other birds, will wait on the wall for a few mealworm to be given to them.:)

Run_to_da_hills · 08-07-2010 12:39am

Out our way I would partly blame noisy two stroke garden tools, hedge trimmers, blowers, chinsaws and what ever else used by land scape gardeners for scaring much of suberban garden bird life. When I grew up we used a hand clippers and rake now its just all noise.

The sooner EU legislation comes into force to ban 2 stroke garden tools the better.

ytpe2r5bxkn0c1 · 08-07-2010 8:33am

Run_to_da_hills wrote: »

Out our way I would partly blame noisy two stroke garden tools, hedge trimmers, blowers, chinsaws and what ever else used by land scape gardeners for scaring much of suberban garden bird life. When I grew up we used a hand clippers and rake now its just all noise.

The sooner EU legislation comes into force to ban 2 stroke garden tools the better.

I honestly think you are wide of the mark there. You have ignored all the habitat changes and environmental impacts long researched and proven to have played significant parts in species declines. House Sparrow numbers have plummeted in remote rural areas with no gardens being violated by power tools. Many areas have lost House Sparrows immediately following de-population because buildings were ruined and crops/hay were no longer produced. Londons parks are no noiser to-day than 15 years ago when House Sparrows numbers were many multiples of what they are today. Yellow Hammer numbers have declined in areas with little or no garden activity. Also, the percentage of gardens using 2 stroke tools is actually quite low.
I think you need to consider the wider picture and study the entire eco-system before zeroing in on some people using garden tools.

Everett · 08-07-2010 9:48am

Santino Rich Self-importance wrote: »

I honestly think you are wide of the mark there. You have ignored all the habitat changes and environmental impacts long researched and proven to have played significant parts in species declines. House Sparrow numbers have plummeted in remote rural areas with no gardens being violated by power tools. Many areas have lost House Sparrows immediately following de-population because buildings were ruined and crops/hay were no longer produced. Londons parks are no noiser to-day than 15 years ago when House Sparrows numbers were many multiples of what they are today. Yellow Hammer numbers have declined in areas with little or no garden activity. Also, the percentage of gardens using 2 stroke tools is actually quite low.
I think you need to consider the wider picture and study the entire eco-system before zeroing in on some people using garden tools.

Its Run_ to_ the _hills... Santino Rich Self-importance.. got my answer, thanks folks.

Alun · 12-07-2010 10:41am

There's a small flock of about 12-15 house sparrows at the moment eating me out of house and home. I seem to be filling up two seed feeders almost every day at the moment. They seem to 'attack' en masse, and even manage to frighten the normally quite aggressive greenfinches and goldfinches away from the feeders.

Sundew · 12-07-2010 10:59am

My parents also have a resident flock of them in their garden in the west of Ireland. They can be heard chattering in the hedges every evening .
At the moment their front lawn and gravel driveway is very busy with the chicks all demanding to be fed by the adults and the seed supply needs to be replenished on a regular basis. Must try and get some snaps next time I'm visiting

Alun · 12-07-2010 11:05am

Yes, a lot of my little flock appear to be juveniles who are still being fed by their parents, although they also appear to be quite capable of feeding themselves.

Sundew · 12-07-2010 11:56am

Alun wrote: »

Yes, a lot of my little flock appear to be juveniles who are still being fed by their parents, although they also appear to be quite capable of feeding themselves.

Them little ones are demanding little buggers ain't they!

John mac · 12-07-2010 3:37pm

We have about 30 of them around, along with loads of chaffinches etc, have to fill the 2 bird feeders every 2 days.

the sparrows love the sand, and the temporary pond (from rain)

Hippo · 28-07-2010 11:15am

I'm filling 2 large feeders daily now to keep up with the ravenous sparrows, don't know how much longer I can afford to do this!

Alun · 28-07-2010 11:17am

Hippo wrote: »

I'm filling 2 large feeders daily now to keep up with the ravenous sparrows, don't know how much longer I can afford to do this!

Me too, it's starting to get a bit costly, but I've started buying in bulk and it saves a lot of money. I feel a bit mean tempting them into my garden with food, and then seemingly abandoning them.

Actually I've just run out of normal feeder seed mix (awaiting a delivery today!) and have just noticed that they're even attacking the Nyjer seed feeder!

Hippo · 28-07-2010 12:07pm

Alun wrote: »

I've started buying in bulk and it saves a lot of money. I feel a bit mean tempting them into my garden with food, and then seemingly abandoning them.

I don't want to abandon them either, but I do have other bills to pay! Where are you buying in bulk?

ytpe2r5bxkn0c1 · 28-07-2010 12:09pm

Particularly at this time of year, do not try to keep up with the feeding demands of any garden birds. Supplement their feeding certainly and provide some relief but they should not be 100% dependant on a food source provided by you. The environment must be able to sustain a healthy bird population and the birds must be able to forage for food available naturally.
I put out only enough seed to give a good hour of feeding (and even then, in Summer, I scatter the seed in the grass, rather than put it in feeders).; for the rest of the day they feed in the garden or fields nearby. Plenty of species and plenty of birds.

Alun · 28-07-2010 12:10pm

Hippo wrote: »

I don't want to abandon them either, but I do have other bills to pay! Where are you buying in bulk?

I'm ordering online from birdfood.ie. Actually a UK based company, but they deliver for free to Ireland for orders over €80.

Dusty87 · 29-07-2010 9:29am

Loads of them at our house. Garden bushes are alive with them. I like them. A lot more that the starlings that were breeding here a few months back, sh1ting everywhere:D:D

John mac · 01-08-2010 6:39pm

a few of our visitors.

Bsal · 02-08-2010 1:17am

In June I had upto 30 in the garden at one time its droped to about 10-15 or so now, their great entertainment watching them feeding the young. While where on the subject of Sparrows does anyone know how long it takes the male fledgelings to get there black bibs, they all look like the female at the moment in my garden.

RonMexico · 02-08-2010 12:54pm

There are so many in our garden with chicks it is like something out of Hitchcocks The Birds

ytpe2r5bxkn0c1 · 02-08-2010 4:47pm

While it's great to see there are small flocks all over the place, there are very few records of flocks in their hundreds as we used to have.

John mac · 02-08-2010 7:56pm

Alun wrote: »

I'm ordering online from birdfood.ie. Actually a UK based company, but they deliver for free to Ireland for orders over €80.

Local co op does 20 kg bag of peanuts for €38, that site are charging €59

ytpe2r5bxkn0c1 · 02-08-2010 9:31pm

Make sure peanuts bought in bulk are certified as aflotoxin free.

Alun · 03-08-2010 9:02am

John mac wrote: »

Local co op does 20 kg bag of peanuts for €38, that site are charging €59

There's peanuts and there's peanuts, and as Srameen points out, it's important that they're aflatoxin free. From their website ...

CJ's peanuts are of the highest quality, purchased from human food stocks to ensure that there are nil detectable signs of aflatoxin, (produced by a mould that can develop on peanuts grown, harvested, transported or stored in excessively hot and humid conditions). Even in very small quantities aflatoxin can be extremely harmful, so we take every care to ensure that the peanuts in this range are of the highest quality.

Are House Sparrows in danger?

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