So House sparrows are in decline are they?
Not here they aint!!
This year a previously healthy population has simply exploded, as good food sources and nesting habitats has prompted a 'baby boom'.
Impossible to count, but here must be dozens living in our cul de sac alone. At times recently the garden has been alive with them - birds everywhere you look.
We and our neighbours feed reguarly (daily in our case, at 2 feeders a time), yet at one point a week or two ago supply couldnt keep up with demand.
Mind you not all food suplied was eaten, sparrows are messy eaters, spilling as much seed on the floor as they eat (which isnt wasted, as it gets collected up and given to the ground feeding birds, particularly the collared doves and wood pigeons).
Thankfully demand is now a bit reduced, there seems to be more natural food about now (flower seeds and insects).
...so how many in your garden at any one time. Two dozen? More than thirty?
I am the same. Have been for many years. I've a least three males. And I get fledglings (is that the right word?) 2, 3, or 4 every couple of weeks. They get two seed feeders full every Saturday morning,and maybe another belly full mid week. Peanuts are available all the time, so is water. Sometimes they get fat balls too.
I buy the seed and nuts by the 20/25Kg sack full. It works out a bit cheaper. They are a joy to watch. You're lucky to get the doves. It's wood pidgeons or feral (flying rats) here :D :D :D
I'm lucky if I see one, although there are many other birds (including a very handsome pair of bullfinches - and no, they haven't touched the apple blossom).
Like i said its impossible to be sure how many there really are, but it must be getting on for 2 - 2.5 dozen at least.
You are lucky to to have to feed only once a week, for us its virtualy once a DAY refill. they get through that much food. We learned some time back that bulk buying was better ;D.
We do get other birds as well. Blackbirds most regularly, alongside magpies, the occasional robin appearance, starlings and fleetingly greenfinches, blue and great t*ts. I should point out these last are sighted only rarely but are clearly about somewhere.
Oh yes and we do have a pair of resident pigeons. They are not a nuisance (apart from noise), and do a good job clearing up after all the sparrows!
;D My pair of sparrows have had 3 or 4 broods this year. The first lot of babies fed the second lot and so on. So from 2 there is now at least 20!!
They are nesting in a gap on the side extension which is near my peppers and tomatoes. So at daily watering time, when the cat and dog accompany me, all the adults turn up beaks full of food and squak at us to go away.
The broods have stayed in a flock and can be seen daily lining up on the wall, picking insects of my tubs and pots and on the bird feeders. One casuality flew into the back kitchen window.
Hopefully they will survive the winter.
Sparrows can teach humans a thing or two about cooperating, sharing and working together.
Quote from: Rosa_Mundi on August 13, 2005, 21:19:48
I'm lucky if I see one, although there are many other birds (including a very handsome pair of bullfinches - and no, they haven't touched the apple blossom).
don't get no bullfinches here :( And I grow teasel & thistles and leave the seedheads on me plants.) Still the sparras are a joy to watch. Bloomin' noisy as well at times. :D :D :D
Quote from: redclanger on August 14, 2005, 13:17:49
Sparrows can teach humans a thing or two about cooperating, sharing and working together.Â
Oh they could, you're right. Although my lot are prone to the odd row every so often, usualy over food.
Quote from: Garden Cadet on August 14, 2005, 14:52:36
Oh they could, you're right. Although my lot are prone to the odd row every so often, usualy over food.
The odd row..!! You wanna see my lot. Wings up erect. Beaks out like spears. Wow..!! I love watchin' sparras. (Go on git 'im. Ass'it..!!)
We have lots of sparrows that sem to live between our house
and the next door neighbour - probably because we both supply the
grub for them.
Within our 'colony' of spuggies there are lots of dunnocks which are
very similar to the spuggies, except that they have a distinct hopping
action and more pointed beak shape.
Debs ;)
Quote from: Debs on August 14, 2005, 22:58:15
Within our 'colony' of spuggies there are lots of dunnocks which are
very similar to the spuggies, except that they have a distinct hopping
action and more pointed beak shape.
Debs ;)
[/quote
The pointed beak is because they are essentially insect and grub eaters and not seed eaters like the sparrows.]
Quote from: Debs on August 14, 2005, 22:58:15
Within our 'colony' of spuggies there are lots of dunnocks which are very similar to the spuggies, except that they have a distinct hopping action and more pointed beak shape.
Debs ;)
I have wondered if they are all House sparrows, since some have slightly different markings, even allowing for juvenile plumage. I wondered if some were a different variety of sparrow (there are a couple of others besides the common 'House' ones), but now you have got me thinking...... ???
Same here - sparrows are becoming my favourite birds. They're so happy and perky. We have around 30 regulars in our small garden, largely because we stuck a pond in there and they also love the elderberries/blackberries etc.
Might need to put up some sparrow housing this year to accommodate them all! :)
Melanie
Here you are Garden Cadet, the male has the dark "bib" under his chin, white cheeks, and grey top of head.
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v723/MusicBringer/housesparrow_tcm3-20998.jpg)
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v723/MusicBringer/housesparrowfemale_tcm3-21003.jpg)
Quote from: redclanger on August 14, 2005, 23:38:04
The pointed beak is because they are essentially insect and grub eaters and not seed eaters like the sparrows.]
Quote
Thanks redclanger, I didn't know that about the insects. I wondered why they pass by the seed on the floor. Yet they like my ant mounds. (I don't..!!)
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v723/MusicBringer/dunnock_tcm3-20887.jpg)
Quote from: dotCompost on August 15, 2005, 13:42:26
Here you are Garden Cadet, the male has the dark "bib" under his chin, white cheeks, and grey top of head.
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v723/MusicBringer/housesparrow_tcm3-20998.jpg)
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v723/MusicBringer/housesparrowfemale_tcm3-21003.jpg)
Thanks thats cleared THAT one up!
Quote from: dotCompost on August 15, 2005, 13:42:26
Here you are Garden Cadet, the male has the dark "bib" under his chin, white cheeks, and grey top of head.
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v723/MusicBringer/housesparrow_tcm3-20998.jpg)
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v723/MusicBringer/housesparrowfemale_tcm3-21003.jpg)
There is also the tree sparrow:
(http://www.rspb.org.uk/Images/treesparrow_tcm3-22273.jpg)
We seem to a few distinct families of sparrows. The ones out the front feed on the fat balls and fly off in one direction, those at the back feed on the seed and peanuts and fly off in another direction and then we have a different bunch on the green.We have loads of different birds, and the dunnocks like to feed under the seed hanger and under the verbena bonari what sit .Starlings always dominate the nuts, but they have specific feeding times. A couple of ring collared doves that won't let any other doves near but will happily share with other birds. I find this bird watching fascinating. A young blackbird flew right next to me when I pegging the washing out, I got too nervous to move so had to wait until it hopped off.Sorry for the ramble...got a bit carried away there.
How loverley Val. I can just picture you hanging out yer washing, being supervised by a blackbird :D :D :D
;D ;DYes it just flew down at my feet , I thought what is it doing...there was a tiny piece of nut obviously dropped by the other birds, it pecked at that then hopped away. :D
I've also noticed the explosion in the House Sparrow populaton in my garden. A welcome sight (and sound) over a few years ago, when there seemed to be only a couple of pairs in the garden.
Over the last 2 weeks I have seen a Kestral regularly fly, at head height, through the garden. Obviously looking for any stragglers. Yesterday the Kestral actually landed on the apex of a neighbours single storey roof extension, 10ft away from the bird feeders and where the sparrows had been feeding. What a noisy warning sound they made too.
One new arrival to my garden has been a flock of Long-tailed Tits, who have become a regular daily feature. This has brought the count of different Tit breeds to visit the garden to 4. They are such a joy to see and hear.
The strangest visitors so-far to the garden, happened earlier this year. When I got up this one morning I found 4 mallard ducks, heads tucked under their wings, having a kip in the middle of the lawn.
With the increase in our garden birdlife populations, one thought that has crossed my mind and no doubt others too. That is, the need to ensure that we continue to regularly feed and supply fresh water for our garden wildlife during this forthcoming winter period. Hopefully this will help to maintain the bird population for next year.
All that rain we had yesterday afternoon a magpie was sat in the bird table sheltering from the rain , it was there a good 2 hours. I think it was a young one, it looked like a penguin all huddled up. I felt really sorry for it, although I don't like them taking young birds in the spring. ;D I do wonder if its to do with everyone feeding and putting up sparrow boxes that is helping with their comeback. I like to think so.
I have to confess that whatever nature does does not bother me. Most things that man does, does.
Here, here RC :) I take part in the garden bird survey and sparrows are declining in our area so me and my friends do what we can to bring birds back to our gardens :)
i've also got lots of sparrows,stuckies,woodpigeon & blackies but what's happened to all the tits (blue coal & great).i haven't had any in the garden since last winter
Despite the noise they make they are great to have about. Nearly all of the birds are welcome friends in the garden, though some are a bit like troublesome relatives (hard to live with, cant change them but you'd miss them if they werent there.
Just today i was out trimming our hedges, part of which the sparrows reside in. At one point i could feel the annoyance at being distubed by the hedge cuuting (an impatient cheeping and whirr of wings every so often). A similar response occurs when the bird feeders need filling!
Does anyone find themselves assigning human characteristics to the birds in their garden or even start chatting to them if there's no one else around? I have to admit i do, especialy to the robins and blackbirds, who are my favorite bird visitors to the garden. Mad or what eh?
Glad its not just me then GC. I've only to walk out with the feed box in the morning and they line up on the fence the worse one is the ring collared dove he doesn't just wait he makes an awful screech, just to let the locals know its feed time.Iwalk in muttering huh thought they were supposed to be wild. I just love them though.