Have you got sparrows?

[maturinsslothe]

My DM and I both consider there are fewer sparrows than we would expect to see, in our separate gardens.

Are there sparrows in your garden? My theory is more people than ever are feeding the birds so there are fewer to go round. She thinks a rise in cat ownership is killing them off.

Yes, lots of them.

Loads of sparrows, starlings (squabbling goblins), magpies, pigeons, blue tits etc - we're in a suburb of Manchester.

We have some but they are outnumbered by starlings, blue and coal tits.
My mother’s garden is sparrow central and I think the big privet hedges surrounding the garden are a factor. They all live in there

Lots of sparrows in our front garden.

I was born in 1971. Was a keen birdwatcher as a kid in the 80s. There were literally hundreds of sparrows (house sparrows, field sparrows etc) but there was a major decline a decade or two ago. 53% if I remember rightly. Numbers are starting to go up again now. But I guess it depends on your age, where you live and how much attention you've been paying over the years as to how you've come to notice this now.

Barely see any small birds here any more, trees full of (far too many) parakeets though, magpies, lots of crows, and gentle woodies when they are all out and about. Once in a while there is a jay.

Unfortunately there is a hawk from time to time and sometimes a heron flying over.

We have masses, but I love birds and try to make lots of habitat for them. I read that sparrow numbers dropped quite badly, but they are picking up again.

We feed them and they are much less shy about coming to the feeder by the window than anything else except dunnocks. But @dementedma is right they love a thick hedge - if you want to see more, get a shrub that'll go big and dense and they'll be all over it.

You need hedges for sparrows really. My dad’s all live on there but some have to overspill into the roof tiles to nest.

I went to London zoo recently and there are loads!!! They love them there and facilitate it. There are lots of different colonies in various parts of the zoo.

We get groups of about 30-40 house sparrows at a time, I love watching them. We're in the south of England, and we do have a plant across the back fence that helps to camouflage them as they wait their turn on the feeders and bird table.

We have house sparrows; not really in gangs as such but they are probably the most common bird in the garden.

We’ve got all the sparrows. Sorry.

That's interesting. Her hedgey bit got blown down on the autumn winds so I expect it's the loss of that which has made the difference. As for me, I suspect there are plenty about but I have so many hedges I don't notice them.

I have lots they hang out in the huge clematis that hangs over my garden from next door. I also have a pittisporum tree that they absolutely love and they are in and out of it all the time.

I also have a cat but he pays very little attention to them.

I think we have family living somewhere in our roof. We get baby bird every year. We also have lots of starlings and pigeons, and robins and blue tits come regularly.

They don't come in my garden is it's tiny and there are lots of neighborhood cats and foxes around. The main birds in my area are magpies.

New estates of houses all have fences. Nowhere for hedgehogs or hedge sparrows.

Back garden do notice them more currently are blackbirds, jackdaws and wood pigeons though this weekend a blue tut has appeared. In the summer we had loads of sparrows and robins.
When I’m wfh from the bedroom at the front I still see a lot of sparrows in the neighbours garden and a Tobin comes every afternoon and sits in the Christmas tree outside my window.

Yes, feathery little piss-taking gobshites. They get through 4 or 5 fat balls a day and spend the rest of the time yelling in the 24-hour sparrow rave bush just up the hill. (I love them really.)

I’ve lots of sparrows in my garden....and always Robin(s) and tonnes of wood pigeons, doves, magpies, crows and blackbirds.

Saw a Jay yesterday which was unusual for my garden.

Yes & a sparrowhawk I fatten them up for

Forgot the bloody starlings who eat everything and cause a noise!!

Bloody loads of them! They all bustle around squabbling in gangs and seem to chase off any other bird that comes into the garden.

Lots here, I love them, so small yet so noisy!

2 Dunnocks, a pair of Great Tits, an adult Robin, a juvenile Robin, a Blackbird (just come back), 2 Wood Pigeons and a pair of Magpies. They make me so happy!

Yes, sparrows, blue tits, starlings, robins, blackbirds. We had a group of birds last year that I didn't recognise. They land on the windowsill to eat the food we put out. Last year one would tap on the window if there was no food. It's like having a wild bird aviary.