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Where have all the Sparrows gone?
by Sarah Mukherjee |
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A few years ago, they wouldn't have merited a second look. Sparrows - one of the LBJs (little brown jobs) usually dismissed by birdwatchers as the avian equivalent of background noise. But if the numbers decline as precipitously as they've done for the last 30 years, they may well become a talking point when - or indeed if - they land in your garden.
According to a government-backed report from the British Trust for Ornithology, the sparrow population has declined by nearly half since the 1970s, and most perplexing of all, no-one seems to know why.
For a start, there are huge regional variations - the sparrow population is, in fact, up by nearly two-thirds in Wales and about a quarter in Scotland. Although sparrow numbers are down by only a third in the South East, the breed used to be very dense around London and the Home Counties, and so this has dramatically pushed down the figures nationally.
Secondly, there are a variety of theories as to why the decline is happening at all. Our obsession with home and garden improvements could be to blame; for example, replacement plastic guttering does not, of course, rot like wood, leaving few nooks and crannies where sparrows can make their nests. Manicured lawns and colourful herbaceous borders, whilst they look attractive, don't provide much in the way of cover for insect life, for the birds to feed upon.
Those furry serial killers, domestic cats, have their part to play. But all these elements don't add up to a fully explanatory whole. The report's authors say they're extremely alarmed at the decline, and are trying to raise cash to fund more research. But they're warning that if things go on as they are, sparrows will be only seen in books.
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a sparrow |
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a house sparrow |
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