Hi all,
Yes, it can be hard to find House Sparrows in some big cities these days. I've
lived in Brisbane for about a year now, and very rarely see them (most
regularly on the partly underground central railway station platforms). Where I
lived beforehand, in the small town of Geurie in central west NSW (near Dubbo),
sparrows were quite common on my very unkept lawn (and along with the
blackbirds and starlings gave it a very European feel!). I recall that the
topic of sparrow decline overseas has been a thread on birding-aus before, so
it might be worth checking the archives for more info.
I have heard a wide variety of theories suggested to explain declines of
sparrows here and in Britain, but I'm not sure of their scientific basis (if
any). They range from something in unleaded petrol, other birds (such as Noisy
Miners) to people generally keeping lawns and gardens tidier these days.
My most recent sighting of House Sparrows was quite unexpected - last week I
saw a group of ~10 birds in the campground of Lady Musgrave Island (in the
southern Great Barrier reef a couple of hours off Bundaberg). Very odd seeing
them among the thousands of nesting seabirds. Actually, I think they were one
of only 2 passerines present (the other being Silvereye).
Cheers
Carl Gosper
-----Original Message-----
From:
Behalf Of Reg Clark
Sent: Tuesday, 28 September 2004 6:47 PM
To: Birding=aus
Subject: Sparrows
Hello all,
This afternoon, while shopping, at the Arndale Shopping Centre in
French's Forest (a suburb north of Sydney), I saw a Sparrow. No big deal
but living about six K's away, the last sparrow I have seen in my
district (St Ives) would have been about thirty years ago .There used
to be small flocks living in my vicinity and indeed moving freely about
my garden. The disappearance may be associated with the advent of the
Indian Myna and an apparent increase in the numbers of Pied Currawongs
in the district
It would be interesting to note the possible fluctuation in Sparrow
populations (if any) , in other areas.
Reg Clark
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