House sparrow numbers

[SelkirkAlex]

I thought I was seeing a lot more house sparrows until I put my glasses on, they are tree sparrows, gangs of them.

the one oddity this year so far the long tailed tits haven't shown up yet, they usually appear in flocks in winter, there must still be lots of food in the forest

[MarkPelican]

We don't have sparrows in our garden and the number of starlings trebled this year (to three). When we first moved here (30 years ago) there were lots of sparrows and starlings but about 10 years ago they vanished.

We live on the edge of a wooded coppice so we have tits (Blue, Great, Long Tailed, Coal) and Nuthatches but no Sparrows at all.

[Kirk]

Seen a good few more in the garden this year feeding this year, very few previously, but they all seem to go up and down.

Have a smallish privet hedge at the front of the area that I always see some diving into. Guess that hedge should be listed as protected owing to the sparrows. Never see any coming out, always going i at full pelt.

This years "bird" seems to be chaffinch, lots in the garden, and they wait for food, then sit and debate whether or not I am a danger or not. Then they just eat the food and more or less forget me.

[KevinM67]

For all I detest the shade caused by my neighbours' trees - there is nothing better than sitting in the shed with a drink watching the sparrows, robins and blue tits playing away at 'tig' through the trees.

[seasprout]

House Sparrow numbers.....

I’ve been feeding my local House Sparrows daily since I moved here about 10 years ago, several big tube feeders near my privet hedge, fat balls, water, etc.....

I also record bird numbers and species in the garden weekly for the BTO Garden Birdwatch, which is a bit like the RSPB birdcount.

https://www.bto.org/volunteer-surveys/gbw

I’m able to look back at previous years counts and see if numbers are declining, a few years ago House Sparrow Numbers were good, then plummeted, but Starlings which were my 2nd most visited bird after wood pigs, are almost non-existent now ......

All rather worrying, lots of big Conifers from surrounding gardens have been felled over the last few years, and an industrial estate is almost finished being built on farmland as well.

[KevinM67]

Strange you should mention about starlings seasprout - our area was full of them this time last year when I moved here. They disappeared around late spring and have not been back since.

Our crow population has multiplied recently - I'm wondering if this is anything to do with it ?

[seasprout]

Strange you should mention about starlings seasprout - our area was full of them this time last year when I moved here. They disappeared around late spring and have not been back since.

Our crow population has multiplied recently - I'm wondering if this is anything to do with it ?

I know many species of birds, Starlings included, flock together into domestic gardens for the winter months, however so far I've seen only 2 together in my garden.

Perhaps there is still enough food out in the countryside.

[burnie]

A lot of Starlings in the winter come over from Europe, with no east winds yet, some migrants are late this year

[KevinM67]

Cheers for that.
Starlings can be quite invasive when you've got continuous food out but, it can be amazing when your garden is absolutely swamped with them all fighting for a feed.

[4Shoes]

Aye, still waiting for the migrating birds here at DG8. There have been a few geese, but nothing like what we would normally expect. Many of the hedge fruits have been taken, so not expecting to see any wax wings or fieldfair this year.

[burnie]

We get a lot of Pink Footed Geese, not seen the numbers for this year, but last year was over 80000, hope to get into the hills if this dry cold weather continues later in the week.

[Jimny14]

How's the weather working out for you burnie?

[KevinM67]

Strange you should mention about starlings seasprout - our area was full of them this time last year when I moved here. They disappeared around late spring and have not been back since.

Our crow population has multiplied recently - I'm wondering if this is anything to do with it ?

Starlings are back.

[Greenleaves]

Our small bird population has been steadily decreasing in the garden but the area is now home to red kites, so guessing that in part is the issue.

[chris_m]

Starlings are back.

Ours have never been away.