When gaciaflats talked about the birds he has in his garden in Texas, he also told us, he has Sparrows. That remark prompted me to have a closer look at where the Sparrow comes from. Very interesting, not even close to what most people think, by putting the origin of the most common bird in the world back to England. Have a read.
http://www.smithsonianmag.com/science-nature/The-Story-of-the-Most-Common-Bird-in-the-World.html
Most interesting, particularly the concept of house sparrows being adapted to humans & their enterprises rather than to a habitat. According to the Reader's Digest Complete Book of Australian Birds house sparrows were introduced into by European settlers wanting to be reminded of Europe so that's one example of where the house sparrow hasn't followed humans naturally. Of course, since they were introduced here they've shown off their adaptability in no uncertain manner.
However, my own experience with the house sparrow may be instructive. My records for where Ms Woko & I live show that it was common to see a maximum of well over 100 sparrows in a week until about 1989. This was the second year of our revegetation. From then on there was a significant decrease in the number of sparrows seen coinciding with the maturing of our native vegetation. For about the last five or six years we have observed a maximum of five house sparrows.This number seems to be rather constant.
Whether the decline in house sparrow numbers is due to native vegetation providing habitat for other species which compete successfully with sparrows &/or the increasing presence of raptors such as brown goshawks & brown falcons or the lack of human food or some other reason is hard to say. I would be interested to hear from other members who have kept records or made anecdotal observations of house sparrow numbers.
The Reader's Digest Complete Book of Australian Birds also says that house sparrows nest in, among other places, thick bushes & trees, hollow limbs and sometimes take over the nests of fairy martins. This suggests that house sparrows compete for breeding places, at least, with native birds which use similar habitats for nesting. I imagine they would also compete with native seed eaters such as red-rumped parrots, red-browed firetails & diamond firetails. So nesting & food resources are readily available to house sparrows on our property but there is no indication of a comeback in their numbers. In fact, there are tentative indications that red-browed firetail & diamond firetail numbers are increasing or, at least, the two species are becoming more consistently present.
Woko said:
Whether the decline in house sparrow numbers is due to native vegetation providing habitat for other species which compete successfully with sparrows &/or the increasing presence of raptors such as brown goshawks & brown falcons or the lack of human food or some other reason is hard to say. I would be interested to hear from other members who have kept records or made anecdotal observations of house sparrow numbers.
Where we live is mostly native vegetation, yes, we do have some BOP, and many Owls. In the 17 years we lived here, I have not seen one Sparrow , or Indian minor, but only 5km down the road, closer to town, next to the shops you can find some.
We have some Blackbirds, but they coexist happily with the Bassian Thrush, even feed next to each other on the poo pile.
So, I dare say, native vegetation is vital to keep them out.
M-L
Interesting, Idont know why but I always thought they originated in Asia.
When I lived in Frankston we didn't see any Sparrows at home but just 2k away the shopping center was full of them.
The 2 most common birds at home were Noisy Miners and Red Wattlebirds with a few Indian Mynas and magpies I guess the neighbourhood was a bit to rough for them.