In Britain, scientists have found that in urban and rural areas there are now ten million fewer house sparrows than there were a few decades ago. The decline is more rapid in urban areas when compared to rural regions. London's sparrow population has dropped by sixty percent during the past six years. In rural areas of Britain, populations have fallen the same amount over the past thirty years.

Public and media response to the declining house sparrow population has been significant, with people contributing generously to organizations aimed at helping the house sparrows and frequent media coverage. If you would like to follow this story, you may find these resources informative:

• House Sparrows in Great Britain
• Royal Society for the Protection of Birds
• Solving a sparrow shortage
• Bid to save sparrow launched
• Sparrows leave the cities
• Where have all the sparrows gone?

Population estimates from the early 1970's suggest that as many 25 million sparrows once inhabited Great Britain. Now, scientists believe their numbers have dropped as low as 13 million individuals. Fortunately, homeowners can take a few simple steps that might drastically improve the environment for house sparrows (tips from House Sparrows in Great Britain):

• Provide suitable shelter for birds in the form of shrubs, trees, and brambles. Delay trimming of bushes until winter time, after the berries are gone from the branches. This ensures the availability of the berries as a food source.
• Provide food sources such as chickweed, charloc, fat hen, dandelion, shepherd's purse, nettle, geranium, honeysuckle, nightshade, cotoneaster, firethorn, wallflower and antirrhinum. Some of these plants are considered weeds, but nonetheless are the food source on which the sparrows rely.
• Reduce or eliminate the use of pesticides and herbicides in the garden.
• Reduce the frequency of mowing.
• Provide bird tables or hanging feeders as well as a bird bath with fresh water.

If you live in Great Britain and would like additional information about what you can do to attract and help house sparrows such as providing nesting sites and protection from predators, please refer to House Sparrows in Great Britain.

Find out more: Ten-Million Fewer House Sparrows

Photo © Tim Zurowski.