"Geoff Mackenzie" wrote

I heard that it was the unexpected result of an ill-judged campaign by the
RSPB to preserve the sparrowhawk, but I have no idea if there is any truth
in this.


Humans have long had a deep-rooted mistrust of other carnivorous species.
Either we are afraid of them for ourselves, or we resent them competing with
us for prey. Birds of prey fit into this later category, it's still a major
part of a gamekeepers job to "discourage" birds of prey which might take
"our" game birds. So if any organisation actually has the audacity to
attempt to preserve a bird of prey it is going to trigger some pretty
deep-rooted hostilities.

No, there is no truth in this bit of propaganda. Cats are a far more
significant threat to sparrows than sparrowhawks are simply because there
are far more of them.

It seems probable that the decline in sparrow numbers is mainly due to
changes in farming practices, though there may well be a number of other
contributing factors.

David.