Author Topic: Where have all the sparrows gone? (Read 5529 times)

rene · « **on:** August 19, 2012, 10:04:15 PM »

I have just returned from Europe, the Netherlands. When I was young and lived over there, one could always find an abundance of sparrows at any given time. Now I have been there for 5 weeks and seen none, nil, zilch...I started asking around, but the same goes now for the UK if I understand it right. If this was the beginning of the apocalypse, the start of the process of no return, we soiled our planet to the extent that common species just die off.....would we recognise it? Not a lot of people had realised that there are no sparrows in Holland anymore. Mostly in cities you will find pigeons and a few small crows. Lets stop talking about the climate changes for a moment. Where have all the sparrows gone?

Weather Display · « **Reply #1 on:** August 20, 2012, 07:41:07 AM »

plenty around here

Babs · « **Reply #2 on:** August 20, 2012, 07:46:33 AM »

they are all living in the big willow tree on my back lawn. put up some bird feeders and you will have a flock of them for days on end

TonyC · « **Reply #3 on:** August 20, 2012, 08:55:01 AM »

I would imagine they move around just like humans and go with the opportunities. Other species may crowd them out or make them less obvious.
Wax eyes are the main residents here.
No shortage of birds around here especially when the fruit trees are bursting. If you don't net everything, they make short work of anything ripe.

Weather Display · « **Reply #4 on:** August 20, 2012, 09:02:55 AM »

just realised this could have been a spam type post?

JennyLeez · « **Reply #5 on:** August 20, 2012, 09:08:51 AM »

Hi WD, no Rene is our Golden Bay station operator and WD user. He is referring to the UK and Holland of where he has just come back from.

By memory didnt RobH touch on this, I will have to go back and read his posts.
Cheers

Weather Display · « **Reply #6 on:** August 20, 2012, 03:09:41 PM »

ah
OK
sorry about that

Suezy · « **Reply #7 on:** August 20, 2012, 05:37:26 PM »

A few years back about 5 ot so = we were picking up dead sparrows here for sometime. It was discovered that they had contacted a virus or suchlike and were dying off in the droves. They have all come back again thank goodness and it is a pleasure to hear them all again with the other birds that we have.
The only thing is that we also have cats that have been dumped here and they have a high life feeding on all my birds. Anyone wanting a cat is welcome to give me a call.

RobertHH · « **Reply #8 on:** August 20, 2012, 10:44:25 PM »

This is a subject that has generated debates for some years and naturally there are many different reasons why things happen the way they do. In the UK we have had a succession of very bad springs, not always bad from the human perspective, but exceptionally bad for the wildlife. This year it was constant rain that devastated the insect population and destroyed their food source. Last year it was a similar storey but the extreme cold and it has been a similar situation for a number of years. Sparrows along with a number of small birds are reliant upon the insect population to feed their young and they time their breeding season to that of the period when insects should be in abundance. When that does not happen, the insects are not there when required and the hatchlings starve. Unfortunately the small birds are not very versatile and in many cases, not very bright and continue to lay the same clutch of four to six eggs and irrespective of the conditions, expect to find food for their young. The adult sparrows eat seed and grain and a variety of other food stuff, but their young require insects.
Larger birds, such as the Blackbird, analyse the weather and modify their behaviour accordingly so that this year they had one chick at a time and didn't have another until that chick had fledged; they also have a much longer breeding period when required and even in the worst of years produce a minimum of of four to eight offspring. Many of the larger birds have a similar resilient strategy but many of the small birds rely on a single breeding strategy and their populations are depleting as a result. Naturally the above scenario has many exceptions because the weather is not the same all over the UK and some areas are ok whilst others are devastated. There are also a wide variety of other reasons why certain species are being depleted and they are cumulative but it not just birds that are suffering, it is the whole range of animals, birds, reptiles, amphibians, fish and insects; so it is the whole of the food chain and a widespread disaster for some species.

RobertHH · « **Reply #9 on:** August 21, 2012, 09:10:21 PM »

Just to add a little addenda and mainly because I removed a dead frog from the pond yesterday. I have seen more dead frogs this year, than any previous. Some have died of malnutrition and many as a result of slug pellets. Being so wet has given rise to a massive increase in the slug population, and as a result, gardeners are scattering slug pellets around with no thought whatsoever for their consequences. Contrary to popular belief, frogs do not eat many slugs, unless no other food is available and this year, that has been the case, more often than not.

Suezy · « **Reply #10 on:** August 21, 2012, 09:38:26 PM »

Thank you RobertHH for your very informative articles above. I am also very sad to read about your frogs too as they are declining at a rapid rate.

Weather Display · « **Reply #11 on:** August 22, 2012, 07:31:37 AM »

Quote

Being so wet has given rise to a massive increase in the slug population,

I assume you are refering to april/may wet period?
I saw very little rain during the 2 weeks of the Olympics (apart from the first day)
(I bet they were pleased that the weather pattern settled down huh)
i.e its not still wetter than normal in the UK lately surely?

Rwood · « **Reply #12 on:** August 22, 2012, 09:27:08 AM »

England-Wales:

July 168% normal rain (most before 20th)
June 229%
May 94%
April 237%
March 37%
Feb 46%
Jan 76%

Weather Display · « **Reply #13 on:** August 22, 2012, 10:01:10 AM »

so since the 20th July its been much drier?
(which I bet everyone is pleased about)
but I guess the damage had already been done

Rwood · « **Reply #14 on:** August 22, 2012, 11:05:23 AM »

The MTD data in the link below for August shows CET a little warmer than average, rainfall & sunshine (England and Wales) fairly close to average.

http://www.climate-uk.com/

TokWW · « **Reply #15 on:** August 23, 2012, 09:06:44 AM »

Thanks Robert for the observations and Rupert for the data - yes its interesting how from season to season the various populations of the animal kingdom decline and rise and often or not, related to weather patterns and the supply of the food source (other animals/insects in the food chain) or the temperatures.

RobertHH · « **Reply #16 on:** August 24, 2012, 02:18:23 AM »

Just as an aside, because it doesn't add anything significant to the discussion on the bird decline or that of other species. Whilst I enjoyed watching the Olympic games from London and a few other venues, and noted the much improved weather. In other parts of the country including this locality and areas further north, there were thunderstorms and flooding and the ground has not had the chance to dry out; it is still like a bog in places. The south east has had very little rain in comparison and continues to be reasonably dry, but the weather remains unpredictable. One of the very obvious problems as a result of this weather pattern is that we have a lot of frogs which are no bigger than a sixpence when they should be the size of a fifty pence piece; this means that they have very little chance of making it through the winter.

Phil · « **Reply #17 on:** August 26, 2012, 08:50:31 PM »

We have plenty of sparrows around here, My wife threw a couple of pieces of bread out onto our deck and there must have been 10 ~ 15 sparrows in no time at all, some young ones as well

Babs · « **Reply #18 on:** August 27, 2012, 10:05:23 AM »

Same here, no lack of sparrows on the hill top

rene · « **Reply #19 on:** August 28, 2012, 03:14:10 PM »

First of all sorry to look like a troll, I posted this and then forgot about it for a while....Thanks RobertHH for the informative reply. It could be that all the sparrows have gone to NZ, I forgot to mention that we have plenty here in Golden Bay as well. That's how it used to be in Europe.

Imagine that you look out of the window and suddenly all the sparrows have disappeared. As I hadn't been in Europe for 17 years, it felt a bit like that.

According to RobertHH there are still sparrows in the UK. I hope he'll let me know when he sees one. I started to look very hard after I figured what was missing, also in nature reserves and the likes, but no sparrows. Then I asked around. No sparrows. Then I asked all the people who had just come back from Europe. No sparrows.

Now I am hoping that someone who is over there will tell me that he/she has just seen one, actually seen one. They can't have all gone surely?

News:

Author Topic: Where have all the sparrows gone? (Read 5529 times)