Hi all I've joined today as I am worried about the lack of variety of birds in my garden. Last year, in August, we got 3 chickens and the birds were all over the garden as usual and eating the chickens food. We had many different birds including green woodpeckers, blue tits, great tits, green finches, robins, blackbirds, thrushes and many more. This year however we have only seen sparrows, hundreds of them. They roost in a tree and descend en-mass to eat the chicken food. I wasn't overly concerned to begin with as I had heard of the decline amongst sparrows but when I saw them mob a blackbird and steal the caterpillars from it's beak I started to get worried. There are so many of them, including many many babies, we have had at least one every other day crash into our windows when they fledge.
I really miss seeing all the birds and listening to the tapping of snails on bricks when the thrush visits. I don't know what to do to discourage the sparrows, I don't want to harm them and I don't mind them being in my garden I just wish there weren't so many. I have a friend in the next street who has the same problem too.
Any advice or info on why this is happening and is it widespread? I live on the Romney Marsh on the Kent coast so usually have so many birds.
Hi Paganqueen.The Sparrows feed alongside all the others in our garden and have never caused any trouble.Mind you, i have never had 100s anyway.I did have around 50 visiting when we lived back home and again never had any problems with them there either.I have seen them mob Magpies etc but only when protecting their eggs or young.
Because of the decline, i thought your healthy supply was excellent news.
Sorry i can't be more helpful.
An optimist sees the beauty of the complete rose.A pessimist sees only the thorn .
I was pleased to see so many after hearing how they had declined in recent years but when I saw them take the caterpillars off a blackbird I thought it was quite shocking, not something I've ever witnessed before. We have a Tamarisk tree in our garden and they all congregate in there. When we go near it they all take off at once and the sight is quite amazing, so many of them all at once. We've saved some of the babies from being stuck on the trampoline unable to fly high enough to get over the net to get out and when we go near the babies we get mobbed by the adults. They don't physically attack us but get very close and the noise is so loud.
Birds do compete for food, it might be shocking if it is the first time you see it but it generally evens itself out. Blackbirds are usually one of the more dominant species in the garden and i am sure if you continue to observe garden birds you will see the blackbird arrive at a food source and chase the sparrows away.
House sparrow are in steep decline in many parts of the UK, the south east of Engalnd in particular. If you have a healthy population, then they must have everything they require to be successful. This includes food, safe nesting sites and plenty of cover where they can shelter such as trees and shrubs. This is great so keep up the good work.
The constant chirping might not be everyones cup of tea but think of it this way, would you rather have that or no birds at all? the house sparrows are not going to do you any harm, they are just looking out for their young, they don't realise that you are trying to help them.
House sparrows are in need of all the help they can get so please try to live with them as best as you can, they are rascals but they do not prevent the other garden birds from succeeding.
Warden Intern at Otmoor.
I echo all that Sheena and Ian have said
I have a large colony of sparrows who have been with me over 12 months, the numbers bumped up recently by dozens of babies. I observe the behaviour of my garden birds for much of the day, and although sparrows can be a little aggressive with each other at times, they have never caused a problem with other birds. They share happily with the goldfinches on my finch feeders, and share their own special corner with the starlings and other species. On the ground they share the food with pigeons, dunnocks, robins, starlings, and many other varieties without any problems. In the bird bath they are so comical - well worth a video or three!
Their happy chirruping is a joy to listen to, and I am always a little sad when they go to bed.
I hope you can come to love these little chaps as much as I do. My blackbirds are the dominant ones who chase away other birds from the food and bird bath when the mood so takes them.
Cheers, Linda.
See my photos on Flickr
You've not mentioned what kind of food you feed them? Perhaps a variety of different foods and plenty of it (though avoid waste) it may encourage other species. Other than what everyone else has said I'm at a loss.
We have a colony of around 50-60 sparrows and we also get blackbird,bull/ green/gold/chaff finches, reed bunting, robin, wren, tree sparrow, dunnock,cdoves,pigeons and lots more. All get on well - there's only really the robins get a bit thuggish sometimes!
We put out dehulled sunflower, peanuts, british finch, mixed wild bird seed, and sometimes wholemeal bread scraps on the shed roof .
Our spadgers roost in the ivy on our wall and it's great to hear their 'conversations' as they're settling down.
Lepi
Teaching a child not to step on a caterpillar is as valuable to the child as it is to the caterpillar. ~Bradley Millar
Please don't think I don't like the sparrows as I really love all the birds I get in the garden. It's just that we have noticed that since we have had our chickens the sparrows seem to have taken over. They sit in the chickens food bowl and I now have to put out twice as much food for my chickens as the sparrows eat so much the chickens don't get enough. One of my chickens sat on one today, she laid down and out popped a sparrow from under her. They must be very healthy sparrows as they have eaten the medicated food I give my chickens when I worm them, maybe that's why they are doing so well.
But as much as I like having the sparrows around I would still like to see the blue tits, great tits, robins and the wrens we used to see. Maybe it's just this year, and nothing to do with the sparrows.
I do know a lot about birds, I have been a keen bird enthusiast for as long as I can remember and have never know anything like this. We have seen a small flock of starlings over the last week or so but I haven't seen one Blue tit or any other bird apart from sparrows, starlings, and blackbirds, oh and a couple of wood pigeons that have nested in our garden for a few years running. It's the small birds I am really missing.
In fact a couple of days ago I did see an amazing sight. I was sitting in my garden when I heard a bit of commotion, when I looked up, a Kestrel had landed on the trampoline netting, he was obviously trying to get the sparrows in the garden. I was about 8ft away from where he landed. I felt quite honoured. He didn't get any, safety in numbers obviously works.
Sounds to me like nature will take control of itself! We have a lot of sparrows in our garden and often don't see other birds for days - but i know they are out there because I seem them at our neighbours! Enjoy your sparrows - they sound like right little characters (I'd love to have seen the one being 'hatched' by your chickens!)
Make the boy interested in natural history if you can; it is better than games [Robert Falcon Scott]
I have the same problem, but not quite on the same scale! :-)
All I have in the garden are sparrows, and lots of them! There are NO other species in the garden! Not even Blackbirds! The only other thing is the occasional dunnock, collared dove or pigeon!
Sam
Birding , Birding, Birding !
We had a few Dunnocks in spring. Maybe it's the bad winter we had that has caused to lack of variety. I have noticed, that there are very few swallows, swifts and house martins around too.