Member Article

Urban Gardens Starving Sparrows

Sparrow numbers are in sharp decline as a result of a lack of summer insects, scientists warn. Researchers from De Montford University have found that the number of house sparrows in both urban and suburban areas has more than halved in 20 years.

Author of the research, PhD student Kate Vincent commented: “This is one of the most mysterious and complex declines of a species in recent years. Since 1970 the house sparrow population has declined by 58% while sparrow populations in rural gardens have declined to a lesser extent, by only 48%.” Many chicks starved during June and July before leaving the nest, and a lack of small insects, including beetles, craneflies and aphids, and spiders was a particular problem in suburban areas lacking deciduous trees, shrubs and long grass.

Miss Vincent added: “The trend for low maintenance and smaller gardens with more concrete, gravel, paving and evergreen shrubs, as well as the increased development of brownfield sites in city areas, could limit the availability of invertebrates. “House sparrows need key habitats in which to find food for their young during the summer breeding months and they particularly target deciduous shrubs, grass lawns and tilled soil.”

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Ruth Mitchell .