This year, our many sparrows have been, ad still are, being anialated by a couple of Sparrowhawks. These are picking off up to three per day.
If this continues, we will soon no longer have any in the area - Gravesend town. Who is protected, or what can I do?
Hi Malcolm, I cant help with your question I am afraid but I grew up in Gravesend and remember there being so many sparrows in the garden. Now days when I go back to visit my mum and the same garden I am lucky if I see one or two sparrows, it is so sad. I am sure that your sparrow hawk is not responsible for their decline but I wanted to say hi to a fellow Gravesender :-).
I should also add that when I was younger I never saw any Sparrowhawks in the garden so don't be too hard on them, they have to eat too and the scarcity of their prey these days just makes it more noticable.
All the best
Kieron
Hi Malcolm and welcome to the RSPB Community
There's not a lot you can do and nor should you really. Sparrows and Sparrowhawks are fully protected by law and there isn't the faintest possibility that the latter will completely clear Gravesend of the former.
Both species have evolved alongside each other. The Sparrowhawk is a completely natural predator and "emptying the larder" will put it on a slippery slope to extinction. Having had many millennia to reach an equilibrium, both species will rub along fine if they're allowed to. Sparrows and other prey species reproduce much faster than their predators just as caterpillars bred faster than Blue Tits.
If sparrows are disappearing then the cause lies elsewhere. See Buzzard's informative post for more information on http://www.rspb.org.uk/community/forums/t/26760.aspx
JBNTS
Every day a little more irate about bird of prey persecution, and I have a cat - Got a problem with that?
Kieron. Many thanks for your reply. I have lived in Gravesend just eight years, and have seen the sparrow population grow two fold in tha time.
At this time, we are luck to see more than three in the garden at any one time, and the feeders, remain full.
Greeting,
Malcolm
John. Thanks for your reply. It just seemsa shame that the Sparrowhawk has an unfair advantage.
Thank you for the link.
Regards
You're very welcome Malcolm.
Sometimes Sparrowhawks fall victim to bigger, meaner predators. The natural world is just a big arms race in some ways.
Sparrows were once so abundant that they were considered a serious agricultural pest. Now that Sparrowhawk numbers have recovered from their post war crash a kind of normality has been restored. House Sparrowa are still a very common species and in some localities their numbers seem to be growing again.
Unknown said:Sparrows were once so abundant that they were considered a serious agricultural pest. Now that Sparrowhawk numbers have recovered from their post war crash a kind of normality has been restored. House Sparrowa are still a very common species and in some localities their numbers seem to be growing again.
I'll second that. You can't move in my garden for the Sparrows. I have had a huge increase this year, around 32 fledglings in the garden, and around 40-50 that visit daily. The Sparrowhawk rarely visits my garden though, seemingly more interested in the large number of feral pigeons I also have in the area. I also have a local Kestrel and A Peregrine, but the bird numbers in my area have risen massively.