Where Did The Sparrows Go In Big Cities?

2024 Author: Bailey Albertson | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 12:53

Not for fat - I would live: where do sparrows disappear in cities

The life of sparrows in a modern city is not sugar. Many fans of feeding birds in parks, connoisseurs of nature, as well as ornithologists note a significant decrease in the number of these birds in megacities. How can you explain the disappearance of such a mass population of "feathered inhabitants"?

Sorry for the bird: why do sparrows disappear from city streets

The average life span of a sparrow is 2 years, rarely a bird lives to a solid 6 years. But recently, there has been a tendency for a sharp decline in the population of these birds in large cities, which means that their life expectancy is decreasing. Scientists are concerned about this situation, because modern society is following the path of the Chinese, who in the 50s of the XX century declared a real war on these birds, because they believed that they were destroying grain crops. But realizing their mistake, they began to buy and re-breed sparrows.

The Moscow Zoo is the only place in the capital where sparrows live in large numbers, as here they find a lot of their usual food

The main reasons for the disappearance of urban birds

Ecologists and ornithologists identify the main reasons for the disappearance of feathered inhabitants:

• hunger. Insects that live in the grass make up the basis of the bird's diet. But it's not a secret for anyone that in a modern city it is very difficult to find a beautiful lawn with many wild plants. The grass is immediately mown, without having time to rise, turn green with a thick cap, the branches of the trees are cut off, the ground is covered with peat. Roll (artificial) lawns, which are completely poor in any living creatures, have become very popular. Head Laboratory of Ecology and Bird Behavior Management, Institute of Ecology and Evolution. Severtsova Olga Silaeva also connects this problem with a decrease in the number of open garbage dumps where these birds got their food;
• lack of space for wintering. Bird watchers agree that the inaccessible niches of old houses that give off heat, as well as holes in the roofs, have always been the ideal place for the sparrow to winter. But modern buildings are characterized by smooth walls and roofs without cornices, in addition, utilities are trying to seal up all the holes and cracks, and attics are turning into glazed attics and apartments;
• a large number of enemies in the face of motorists, cyclists, cats, dogs. Many birds die under the wheels, as well as from the teeth of stray cats and dogs, the number of which is rapidly growing on the streets of large cities;
• negative impact of radiation and poor ecology. Construction is underway in cities, trees are being destroyed, ecology is being disrupted, and birds simply cannot stand such a hectic city life. In winter, roads are often sprinkled with ice on ice, which is eaten by sparrows, which is why they die. In addition, the decline in passerine flocks coincided with a massive increase in mobile communications and global computer networks. And there is a high degree of probability that this also influenced the health status of birds and their genetics.

Sparrows are divided into two types: brownies and field sparrows.

Often on the forums of the city of Balashikha near Moscow, you can find posts of city residents about the mass death of pigeons and sparrows. So, the townspeople meet a large number of dead birds right on the sidewalks and in parks. Many attribute this to a large number of cell towers, which are a source of electromagnetic radiation, and the presence of a chemical plant, which is positioned as the main air pollutant in the city.

Video: where did the sparrows go

The mass disappearance of sparrows is the fault of exclusively modern society. These small birds are sedentary birds, therefore they cannot leave the urban habitat. As the saying goes: “where he was born, there he came in handy” If food disappears in the habitat of the sparrow, the chick stops looking for a mate, and therefore, and multiply.