What is killing off the sparrow population in the UKs towns and cities?
The once common house sparrow is now so rare that numbers are thought to be half that of 25 years ago. A lack of food could be killing off sparrows Theories abound on why so many sparrows have been lost, ranging from the destruction and damage of natural habitats to predation from the domestic cat and sparrow hawks. Pollution is also implicated. However, a PhD student from Leicester’s De Montfort University says her in-depth study into sparrow breeding may hold the key to solving their mysterious disappearance. Sparrows produce three sets of chicks from spring to summer. But Kate Vincent, 25, is discovering that second or third broods of chicks born to birds living in urban areas are dying before they leave the nest. It is unclear how the young sparrows are dying but in some places the number of deaths is so big that populations levels are dropping. Ms Vincent is studying 619 nest boxes she put up across the city over the last three years and which she visits every week. Picture courte
