Missing sparrows

Rancid

So... before the recent snow in Dublin, my feeders were busy with sparrows, literally all day they were flying to and fro and feeding, then flying off into the nearby trees.
Despite keeping the feeders full, I've seen none AT ALL since the second day of the snow.

Anyone else noticing this?
I'd hate to think that they all died in the so-low temps we had.
Or is it likely they flew off to more sheltered places?

I still have the other regular visitors, pigeons, wood pigeons, all of the tits, blackbirds, starlings, the odd thrush or 2, goldfinches and redpolls, and a solitary linnet.

Bsal

Before the snow I had my regular 20-25 Sparrows every day, during the snow and cold weather and even now I have only around 10. I think they have just gone off to feed somewhere else, Im sure I'll have them all back in the Spring.

Rancid

Bsal wrote: »

Before the snow I had my regular 20-25 Sparrows every day, during the snow and cold weather and even now I have only around 10. I think they have just gone off to feed somewhere else, Im sure I'll have them all back in the Spring.

I hope that's it.
I almost sure I saw about 4 or 5 sparrows in the branches of a nearby tree this afternoon, but not one of them came to the feeders. And I used to have a good 20 or so every day before the snow.

Half-cocked

Our sparrows dropped from 30 to 4 during the snow but they are creeping back up - now up to 9. I think they just moved elsewhere during the cold weather.

Scrappychimow

Lots of people are fecking out scraps from the festive feasts remember ,they could be elsewhere gobbling up scraps.

ytpe2r5bxkn0c1

Sorry to burst the bubble lads but the ortality among small birds in the past month have been huge.

littlebug

Sparrow numbers have been well down in my garden this year compared to last but numbers of everything except starling have dwindled over the past few weeks

Rancid

Anderson Nutritious Surfboard wrote: »

Sorry to burst the bubble lads but the mortality among small birds in the past month have been huge.

And that's what I'm afraid of. Until the snows came, I was seeing 20 or more constantly at the feeders and a huge number of blue, great and coal tits, too. Now, there are about half the number of tits and no sparrows. Though, as I said, I've seen a few sparrows in the higher parts of the trees but they're staying away from the feeders.

Scrappychimow

Is it the cold itself or the lack of food in the bad weather that kills them? would they survive if they could get food from the feeders?

Bsal

Some birds die of dehydration in very cold weather such as the temperatures we had recently. I had to put out fresh water every 30 minutes last week because it was turning to ice so fast.

ytpe2r5bxkn0c1

Scrappychimow wrote: »

Is it the cold itself or the lack of food in the bad weather that kills them? would they survive if they could get food from the feeders?

Bsal is right but the cold weather is the main cause.

Mr. Presentable

Lots of birds died off. The upside is that there will be less competition in spring for food so the populations will rebound very quickly as pairs will be able to support more chicks.

ytpe2r5bxkn0c1

Mr. Presentable wrote: »

Lots of birds died off. The upside is that there will be less competition in spring for food so the populations will rebound very quickly as pairs will be able to support more chicks.

Doesn't work that easily, my friend. Populations can take many years to recover from the kind of losses we have seen this year.

doctor evil

Anderson Nutritious Surfboard wrote: »

Doesn't work that easily, my friend. Populations can take many years to recover from the kind of losses we have seen this year.

Is the best way to help this to just keep putting out the right food, housing and fresh water?

Half-cocked

Anderson Nutritious Surfboard wrote: »

Doesn't work that easily, my friend. Populations can take many years to recover from the kind of losses we have seen this year.

Especialy true now that we have had 2 hard winters in a row.

Rainbowsend

I think they are all in my garden!! The garden is surrounded by conifers cut into a hedge so is very dense and I think they provided a lot of shelter from the cold, that and the fact the there is plenty of available food in the garden too. I have never seen so many, noisey little fellas they are too.

Rancid

Rainbowsend wrote: »

I think they are all in my garden!! The garden is surrounded by conifers cut into a hedge so is very dense and I think they provided a lot of shelter from the cold, that and the fact the there is plenty of available food in the garden too. I have never seen so many, noisey little fellas they are too.

That's what it was like here... before the snows came and changed everything.

I'm seeing maybe 5 or 6 now, flying past the feeders but not stopping to eat, like they're newcomers just checking things out.
At least there are a few around, I'm sure the numbers will increase if the snow stays away.

Half-cocked

Our house sparrows dropped from a peak of 30 in the Summer to 2 during the snow. In the last few days they have climbed back up to 16. While I'm sure there has been some mortality from predation and cold, it seems that a lot of them simply moved elsewhere during the freeze and are now returning. Has anyone else experienced this?

Bsal

My Sparrow numbers are up to 13 for today the highest since before the bad weather, still short a few!