redwing i do know its an offence under the wild life act to control wild birds but sparrows are still a nuisance in the garden i agree with leifuk when feeding them seed and fatball they chase off the smaller birds like coal tits and blue tits and they squabble all the time and i won' let them ruin my garden by pecking at everything in it.
I hang feeders with seed in for the sparrows and suet and sunflower hearts for the tits, greenfinches, goldfinches and robins etc. Keeps everyone happy
Gardening in Central Norfolk on improved gritty moraine over chalk ... free-draining.
Lyn, you seem to have argumentative sparrows. We have loads of them here and they happily share the food with assorted tits, chaffinches, siskins, warblers, robins, wrens, blackbirds, turtle doves and so on but I do put out loose seed mix, fat balls, peanut feeders, plus insect, fruit and fat blocks so there is something for everyone.
The bolshy ones are the greater spotted woodpeckers which shoo everyone off the peanuts and fat balls and the jackdaws and jays whose size is imposing compared to the others.
Vendée - 20kms from Atlantic coast.
"The price good men (and women) pay for indifference to public affairs is to be ruled by evil men (and women)."
We have them (sparrows) and they are pests. I have abandoned growing peas because of them. We have to cover newly planted onion sets with cloches until they have firmly established their roots, otherwise the sparrows lift the lot out, presumably looking for things under them. They dig in the compost inside our patio pots making an awful mess. We cannot use coir type hanging baskets as they destroy they fore nesting material. So far as we are concerned they are our number one garden pest, passing slugs, snails and Carrot flies, Number two are Keel slugs who make growing potatoes a complete waste of time.
Sparrows are protected, they may only be 'controlled' by authorised (licenced) people where it is needed to prevent serious damage to agriculture or present a serious public health and safety issue, not the case here where it's runner beans that are at stake.
having said that it is annoying if you find something damaged by nature that is beyond your control. The key has to be prevention.
We have nesting sparrows, blackbirds and house martins, the bird tables and feeders are visited by pigeons, collared doves, Jackdaws, blackbirds, blue great and coal tits, goldfinches starlings along with both hedge and house sparrows in the main with other species making occasional visits (not to mention a heron who thought the pond looked like a good takeaway)
I love the birds, but understand the position of the OP, I think here prevention is better than cure.
Posts
redwing i do know its an offence under the wild life act to control wild birds but sparrows are still a nuisance in the garden i agree with leifuk when feeding them seed and fatball they chase off the smaller birds like coal tits and blue tits and they squabble all the time and i won' let them ruin my garden by pecking at everything in it.
I hang feeders with seed in for the sparrows and suet and sunflower hearts for the tits, greenfinches, goldfinches and robins etc. Keeps everyone happy
Gardening in Central Norfolk on improved gritty moraine over chalk ... free-draining.
Lyn, you seem to have argumentative sparrows. We have loads of them here and they happily share the food with assorted tits, chaffinches, siskins, warblers, robins, wrens, blackbirds, turtle doves and so on but I do put out loose seed mix, fat balls, peanut feeders, plus insect, fruit and fat blocks so there is something for everyone.
The bolshy ones are the greater spotted woodpeckers which shoo everyone off the peanuts and fat balls and the jackdaws and jays whose size is imposing compared to the others.
My Sparrows do squabble and they are very noisy bullies too to some extent.
I affectionately my Sparrows "Terrorists"!
I too keep my feeders for the Sparrows away from the feeders I put out for the tits etc.
The Sparrows are never on the feeders all day, this gives other species a look in at different times of the day.
Sparrows (and some other species of birds) may be culled...
http://www.rentokil.co.uk/birds/species/
We have them (sparrows) and they are pests. I have abandoned growing peas because of them. We have to cover newly planted onion sets with cloches until they have firmly established their roots, otherwise the sparrows lift the lot out, presumably looking for things under them. They dig in the compost inside our patio pots making an awful mess. We cannot use coir type hanging baskets as they destroy they fore nesting material. So far as we are concerned they are our number one garden pest, passing slugs, snails and Carrot flies, Number two are Keel slugs who make growing potatoes a complete waste of time.
What's this word 'culled'? We should say what we mean - killed.
emma2souls,
Sparrows are protected, they may only be 'controlled' by authorised (licenced) people where it is needed to prevent serious damage to agriculture or present a serious public health and safety issue, not the case here where it's runner beans that are at stake.
having said that it is annoying if you find something damaged by nature that is beyond your control. The key has to be prevention.
We have nesting sparrows, blackbirds and house martins, the bird tables and feeders are visited by pigeons, collared doves, Jackdaws, blackbirds, blue great and coal tits, goldfinches starlings along with both hedge and house sparrows in the main with other species making occasional visits (not to mention a heron who thought the pond looked like a good takeaway)
I love the birds, but understand the position of the OP, I think here prevention is better than cure.
cheers
i have lots of sparrows and they don't touch my plants, they share the same feeders that the blue tits, robins & harvest mice use.
Thank you all for you'r interest and replies.