A tougher world for urban sparrows

10 February 2006

Sir: Your article "Revealed: why the sparrows are dying out" (6 February), blaming the lack of live food for their young, does not explain the obvious question: if there are fewer invertebrates available to feed young sparrows, then how come other garden birds that rely almost entirely on "live food" throughout the year are not in serious decline? There is a more pernicious reason for sparrow decline - habitat loss.

Sparrows thrive where they have adequate cover. Front-garden loss, especially the loss of the evergreen hedges that offered year-round shelter and safe foraging zones, is to blame for sparrow decline.

Too many front gardens have been lost in our urbanised districts, as highlighted in two recent reports, one from the Greater London Authority, the other by the Royal Horticultural Society. The introduction of controlled parking zones has exacerbated the problem of front garden destruction.

Incredibly, the flock of 37 sparrows I fed in a very cold but well-hedged park last week weren't dying out, nor were the many successful broods that were born last year in the social housing areas of my borough (Barnet) where about half the residents have not (or can't) carelessly remove their front gardens and hedges for car parking. In the more affluent private areas where big foreign four-wheel drive vehicles sit on an austere block-paved frontage, sparrows are a rarity.

Couple this devastating loss of habitat with the selfish mentality of the typical estate agent, who sees birds nesting in roofs as vermin to be eradicated, and is it any wonder this brave little bird which has endured its association with man for centuries is finding it hard to survive alongside us? If there are fewer places for them to nest, feed and find shelter, then of course it's harder for sparrows to survive.

DONALD E LYVEN
LONDON N5