Xref: kermit uk.business.agricultu166185 uk.rec.birdwatching:83866 uk.rec.gardening:192696

Tumbleweed wrote:
If a part of the decline is
due to that, and another part due to us not having sparrows living in
our house roofs, and a further part due to farmers not feeding them
by scattering grain all over the fields when harvesting, then you
could reasonably argue that the sparrow pop of (say) 1900-1950 was
artificially boosted over what it would be in an environment with no
human interference, since there would be far fewer artificial (i.e.
houses) nesting sites , much less food, and many more predators, in
such an environment. Maybe the 'natural' sparrow pop is closer to
what it is now, than it was 50 years ago?

Good point!

--
Michelle Fulton
Texas, USA
If you aren't living on the edge, you're taking up too much space.