Mapping Worcestershire's house sparrows

A scheme to map one of Worcestershire’s most treasured birds is helping to fill the gaps in our knowledge about the humble house sparrow.

House sparrow populations in Worcestershire have declined over recent decades, reflecting similar falls nationally (an almost 70% decline 1977-2018). The Wildlife Sightings scheme aims to put some of their numbers back on the map by encouraging members of the public to report sightings of their feathered neighbours, enabling experts to accurately gauge populations across the county.

Worcestershire Wildlife Trust has partnered with Worcestershire Biological Records Centre, Worcestershire Recorders and county experts to review the data submitted via the scheme.

Worcestershire’s county bird recorder, Craig Reed, has been delighted with results so far “With their loud chipping calls, habit of perching fairly openly and often living in close proximity to us, house sparrows are difficult to miss.

“However, many garden birdwatchers have noticed a decrease in their numbers over many years. Records submitted to our county database showed that there were big gaps in house sparrow distribution so in 2021 we asked the public to let us know where they were seeing house sparrows.

“Unlike many other species of birds, house sparrows remain close to their breeding territories all year round so reporting sightings helps us to build a picture about where they’re likely to be breeding.

“People who submitted house sparrow records in 2021 via the new Wildlife Sightings scheme reported more breeding evidence than was received in total for the 2020 annual bird report.

“This kind of data really helps to expand our knowledge of what’s going on with our house sparrow populations. It can help us to understand whether there are particular problems in areas where there are no birds or, conversely, whether there are large populations elsewhere that could help numbers to increase in the future.”

House sparrow sitting in a tree by Simon Hislam — House sparrow by Simon Hislam

One of the key questions that the team hope to answer is whether gaps on the map illustrate a genuine absence of birds or whether they represent a lack of recorders submitting records. As more sightings are submitted, Craig and fellow experts can review modern records against historic ones to help to assess the status of the species in the county.

More than 1200 sightings of house sparrows were recorded across Worcestershire in 2021 via Wildlife Sightings, the national Birdtrack scheme and other casual reports. 63% of records that were submitted via Wildlife Sightings were from new 1km grid squares.

Map of Worcestershire with green dots (Wildlife Sightings submissions) and purple dots (other submissions) showing approximate location of 2021's house sparrow sightings — 2021's house sparrow sightings. Green dots are Wildlife Sightings submissions, purple dots are other submissions.

Most sightings were received from Bewdley, the Wyre Forest, Worcester city and Evesham. Records from Wildlife Sightings particularly helped to fill in gaps in the Malvern Hills area where records had previously been quite sparse.

Five sites reported flocks of more than 50 sparrows with two sites, one in Pershore and one of the edge of Worcester, recording 120 and 150 birds respectively.

Nick Packham, from Worcestershire Wildlife Trust, added “House sparrows are dear to so many people and it’s great to see Worcestershire’s residents get behind this scheme to map where they can be found.

“They’re just one species that we’re asking people to look out for, from ladybirds to bumblebees.

“We’re also asking people to let us have sightings of our other feathered housemate, the house martins. Numbers of these wonderful aerial acrobats are plummeting and we need the public’s help to understand more about where they are and how we can help to turn around their fortunes.

“Every record is valuable and can help to fill gaps in our knowledge of our wonderfully chirpy, colourful and characterful wild neighbours.”

People are being asked to take a photo or make a recording of sparrow songs and calls to upload via Worcestershire Wildlife Trust’s website www.worcswildlifetrust.co.uk/wildlife-sightings where more information about house sparrows and recording wildlife can be found.

The survey is being undertaken in partnership with Worcestershire Biological Records Centre, the repository for natural history sightings in the county, and the Worcestershire Recorders, a group of volunteers whose records and research help with a better understanding of the status of wildlife in Worcestershire.