Show us yer tits ( or other bird species )

[smutchin]

[QUOTE 5306133, member: 9609"]yes, its a RED listed species (over 50% decline in past 25 years)

like many of these cases the reasons are not fully understood, biggest declines are in towns and cities with the most contributory factor being loss of habitat as we now keep our homes and factories in better state of repair (sparrows like little holes and cavities to nest in and building now don't have as many of these) modern buildings are often designed to be bird proof. We should be challenging planning applications to make space for birds.

Big declines also in the countryside and the likely causes are less insects, - more intensive farming, more pesticides mean less room for wildlife.[/QUOTE]

I heard something very interesting on the radio yesterday about how sparrows are a 'sedentary' bird - unlike other birds, when their habitat is destroyed, they don't move on, they just stay put. As they put it on the programme, they're like someone who sits in front of the telly all day but if you take the telly away, they just stay on the sofa, and continue to remain there while you dismantle their house around them, removing their shelter, their food supply, everything... until they die out.

Heartbreaking, really.

 

[Dave7]

these little ****s are nesting at the bottom of our garden

 

[twentysix by twentyfive]

View attachment 418461 these little ****s are nesting at the bottom of our garden

You sure it's not Butter?

 

[Poacher]

View attachment 418425

looks more like a Dark-eyed Junco?

Edit: Whoops! TMN to @nickyboy

 

[Poacher]

Is it time to resurrect this thread?
https://www.cyclechat.net/threads/pair-of-great-tits-in-my-hand.131965/

 

[Old jon]

Maybe a sparrow . . .

But a twitcher I am not.

 

[deptfordmarmoset]

I heard something very interesting on the radio yesterday about how sparrows are a 'sedentary' bird - unlike other birds, when their habitat is destroyed, they don't move on, they just stay put. As they put it on the programme, they're like someone who sits in front of the telly all day but if you take the telly away, they just stay on the sofa, and continue to remain there while you dismantle their house around them, removing their shelter, their food supply, everything... until they die out.

Heartbreaking, really.

I came across a theory that the decline in sparrows is related to the decline in insects (the youngsters are insectivore). And the decline in insects is down to vehicle emissions, post lead-free (ether?). I don't know the causality but I do know that the sparrow's decline coincides with the insect decline. That said, they're rare in London, but one of the reasons I moved here was because were a lot of them twittering (non-maliciously) about the place.

 

[Julia9054]

I came across a theory that the decline in sparrows is related to the decline in insects (the youngsters are insectivore). And the decline in insects is down to vehicle emissions, post lead-free (ether?). I don't know the causality but I do know that the sparrow's decline coincides with the insect decline. That said, they're rare in London, but one of the reasons I moved here was because were a lot of them twittering (non-maliciously) about the place.

That has to be one of the most obscure reasons for choosing to live in London!

 

[Julia9054]

House sparrow numbers have declined by two thirds since the 1970s but the good news is that over the last 12 years numbers have remained stable and are even showing a slight up turn according to the British Trust for Ornithology.
Starlings - very common when I was a child - have declined by around 70% whereas more generalist feeders such as blackbirds, blue tits and robins have seen an increase in their numbers.
These figures certainly chime with my observations as a keen bird watcher since I was a child.

 

[midlife]

I've been looking at the garden birds here near Carlise for about 8 years and this is the first year that sparrows have been regularly to the feeders. When I was a kid in Hull there were flocks of them......

 

[Drago]

The RSPB says there’s no real evidence to suggest cats are causing a decline in common garden birds..

They'd not visited my garden, AKA Bird Belsen.

 

[deptfordmarmoset]

That has to be one of the most obscure reasons for choosing to live in London!

I'm stuck in London while my mother's alive. The move was necessitated by being broke at the time and getting hit by the bedroom tax. It was a local council transfer (to a larger place classed as one bedroom...). I simply felt a bit nostalgic about the sparrows, and I took it as a little sign.

Insect decline does look like a possible candidate for dwindling sparrow numbers. No idea about starling habits. Do they have an insectivore stage?

 

[Julia9054]

No idea about starling habits. Do they have an insectivore stage?

RSPB say that the cause is unknown but suggest it may be because starlings are heavily reliant on soil invertebrates such as leather jackets and earthworms who's numbers may have declined due to drier summers.

 

[twentysix by twentyfive]

No idea about starling habits. Do they have an insectivore stage?

Do you mean like frogs have a tadpole stage?

 

[twentysix by twentyfive]

But a twitcher I am not.

Must be Parkinson's then.