Where have all the sparrows gone?

Answer 1

Sparrows are not travellers - unlike BlueTits or lots of other birds they won't go far to search for food - so if it runs out in the local area they just die off.

To add weight to this - ten years ago we had hardly any sparrows left in our neighbourhood, and so we decided to put up two birdfeeders, keeping them continually topped up with wild bird seed. Today we have a flock of around 40 healthy sparrows and growing! This is despite having eight local neighbourhood cats.

Answer 2

We have lots of sparrows show up every day for a good meal. We keep an eight pound feeder full at all times year round hanging on the back fence and a bird bath with in a few feet. Birds are like people and any thing else. If there is lots of food and water the temp is not too hot or cold it will multiply. If there is little food they will not have very many babies because their bodies will not be able because of health and many other problems.

So be a bud and put out a feeder. You will have a lot of fun watching them flirt with each other and fight with others and splash in the watter.

Answer 3

All animal populations go through cycles of high and low density. Different pressures on a population means that the numbers are rarely stable.
Its true that magpies, squirrels and weasels will prey on birds and their eggs, but they have all lived in this country for thousands of years. Birds have developed different strategies for succesful breeding to deal with the eggs and chicks they lose, such as hiding their nests, having large clutches, having two clutches in a good year and mobbing predators.
A serious problem for native animals are cats; one survey reckoned they kill a quarter of a million birds every year. Owners just won't use an elasticated collar with a bell on it.
Another has been the widespread use of pesticides, both in the countryside and in gardens. If theres no small soft insect food birds can't feed their chicks.
The weather can cause problems, especially in the spring. There may also have been a particularly hard winter or dry summer (or both) that caused the population to crash and it may be having trouble recovering from that.
There may have been a change in the way buildings are designed which means less roosting spaces to see them through the night. There may be fewer nest sites available.
Its not just sparrows either; there are fewer thrushes, blackbirds, housemartins and swallows.
So theres probably a number of different factors all putting pressure on bird populations.

Answer 4

His eye was on the sparrow too long

Answer 5

most sparrows are being taken over by magpies,they envade there nests and destroy there eggs so they can take over the nest as there own.so the population is decreasing as it will do for other birds aswell.

Answer 6

My cat ate them

Answer 7

We have a few in our garden

Answer 8

Mauritius - saw them when we were on holiday

Answer 9

they migrate abroad every year

Answer 10

to where they wanted to go