House sparrow numbers

[Jimny14]

I was feeding the baby this morning whilst watching the birds on the feeders and during there comings and goings counted at least six pairs of house sparrows, two pairs appear to be living under the kitchen roof. Has anyone else noticed increasing numbers of sparrows or are we just lucky that we have a good healthy local population?

[Jungle Jane]

Ive noticed an increase in sparrows & starlings,the more you feed them helps with their survival,I can't ever stop feeding them now,in case they're relying on me. Do you get many starlings? When I put a load of mealworms on the grass about fifty starlings swarm in & out,amazing to watch.

[Nicos]

I think the entire French population of sparrows visit us during the day....munching away on the hen food
Costs us a fortune!....And as the chooks free range I find it impossible to keep them apart!

[Jimny14]

Yeah we've also got quite a lot of starlings, we have some large deciduous trees in the field behind our house and the starlings often use them to perch.

[burnie]

We get a lot of migrant Starlings and pigeons this time of year along with some more exotics, Redwings and Fieldfares at the moment. We have a large semi wild hedge that is used by at least 50 House Sparrows, we got a few Tree Sparrows too in winter. Sadly our Greenfinches have almost vanished, hope they recover.

[Zelenina]

I was pleased to see a good population of house sparrows when I moved here, but after a while I got puzzled about why I was only seeing males and never any females. Eventually, after quite a bit of goggling, I discovered that they're not house sparrows at all but Eurasian tree sparrows, and they are a unisex species.

Plenty of starlings too. Great flocks of them in my pear trees when the pears started ripening.

[dogsbody]

About 12 - 20 house sparrows are resident in my garden during the day (depending on the time of year it varies within those numbers) and empty my feeders on an almost daily basis!

The starling population varies greatly during the year dependent on the migration, up to 50+ on occasions.

[Thelma Sanders]

There are loads around here
I must admit I was surprised when they said numbers were declining sharply...

[Jimny14]

That was my thought too Thelma, there seems to be more this year if anything. Looking forward to more and more birds and diversity over the next few years as our new boundary hedge develops. When we moved in to the house a couple of years ago the back boundary was a very neglected hedge that was mainly self seeded ash and elder with some very sorry looking hawthorn, so we grubbed out all the elder and most of the ash we could, saved the hawthorn and have layed what we could and replanted the gaps with hawthorn, field maple, Hazel and viburnum tinus. Give them a few more years we'll lay that and invite the local wildlife in.

[Mr Bones]

We've had sparrows back this year for the first time in about 20 years, it's lovely to see them but mixed feelings as we also have a sparrow hawk that now visits and has been picking them off.

[Snoop Puss]

I think the entire French population of sparrows visit us during the day....munching away on the hen food
Costs us a fortune!....And as the chooks free range I find it impossible to keep them apart!

Yes, same here. Every time I go up to see the chickens, about 40 sparrows go flying off. Only to return as soon as I leave. I'm thinking of moving the hen compound next year and might put some bird netting over it, just to stop them getting in, as the sparrows foul the chickens' water as well as eat their food. And to think we started off with just single pair a few years back...

[veggiechicken]

House sparrows at the front of the house and hedge sparrows/dunnocks at the back.
My chooks have a treadle feeder so the wild life can't pinch any feed.

[4Shoes]

We have sparrows. There are 2 populations each of about 20 to 30. Sometimes they merge at the feeder(s). We sprinkle some feed on the ground for the Collar Doves, Dunocks and Black Birds. There are 3 Elderberry Bushes on the other side of the Garden, and the bombard each other like the Dam Busters - wave after wave. The 1st lot get onto the feeders or on the ground, then the 2nd lot fly over, spooking the 1st (1st Fly back to Elderflower Bush), 2nd Lot get a few seconds feeding before the 1st lot return.

Meanwhile, The Doves, Blackbirds, and Tits just continue to feed.

They all vanish when Mr & Mrs Buzzard perch on the telephone pole or the Black Cat passes.

[4Shoes]

Sparrows also don't like the spotted woodpecker. Blue Tits and Great tits are bold, but the sparrows vacate the area.

Suspect one of the reasons we have quite a few is because I setup a Sparrow Terrace nest box this year

[4Shoes]

The other thing that likes Sparrows are mallard ducks. Yum Yum. Just think of Jaws (The film) featuring Drake Mallard as the shark and a family of sparrows sun bathing on a beach at the side of a loch.

Drake Mallard had to make a quick getaway from his Bachelor Buddies