"martin" wrote in message
...
On Sun, 21 Aug 2005 00:35:47 +0100, "Tumbleweed"
wrote:



House sparrows were the most common bird for the second year in a row,
although sightings are falling. An average 4.56 sparrows were spotted
per garden this year, compared to an average of 10 in 1979, the first
year of the survey.



hmmmm, sparrows decrease, sparrow hawks increase ...see if you can work
out
the connection. .

... how many sparrow hawks does it take to eat millions of sparrows
per year??
--
Martin

Last time I read there were about 65,000 SH's in the UK.

If they each eat one sparrow a day, that is nearly 24 million sparrows a
year.

Will that do?

Quick google
...http://www.birdguides.com/html/vidli...iter_nisus.htm
agrees with my recollection.

FWIW, the same site says that by the end of summer there will be 170,000
birds (because the 65,000 was just breeding birds).

If the other 105,000 eat 1 sparrow a day for a couple of months in total
before dying, that is an additional 6 million sparrows.

So, thats likely where 30 million of the sparrows went....

Maybe our veggie friends can persuade the SH's to drink soya milk instead?

--
Tumbleweed

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