In article ,
Jim Lesurf wrote:
In article , Dave Plowman (News)
wrote:
In article , Iain Churches
wrote:
Sparrows used to be about the most common bird in this part of
London. Then all but disappeared perhaps 10 years ago. And although
they've returned, in nowhere near the same numbers.

What happened to cause a reduction in their numbers?

I dunno. I've searched, but found no definitive answer. They seemed to
disappear near overnight.

I've hear mention of this a number of times. In general with people also
saying they don't know the cause.

Two that have occurred to me are

1) Cats. The little expletives are probably mass murderers.

Yes - but in this part of London they were by far the most numerous
species. Cats simply couldn't account for the fast disappearance.

2) There is an infection that has been found to move from just one
species of bird to another recently, so maybe that has also done for
sparras.

That's the likely one - but I don't remember seeing lots of dead ones. Or
indeed any. Perhaps the foxes cleared them up. The cats are too well fed
to bother.

Hard for me to tell. But I certainly see far more other types of birds
on our garden. Even wrens which I only started noticing a couple of
years ago as they tend to be so small and shy.

Yup. Lovely little things.

--
*Horn broken. - Watch for finger.

Dave Plowman London SW
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