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Blacksmiths Cottage has always had large population of House Sparrows Passer domesticus , due mainly to the abundance of waste feed generated by the captive waterfowl collection. BTO bird ringer David Fuller initiated a BTO RAS project on the 29th August 2006, with the aim of monitoring the population and tracking the dispersal of the birds throughout the surrounding area.
The birds are caught in mist nets and fitted with a BTO metal leg ring and then a series of colour rings, so that they can easily be recorded by sight when they are feeding .
To increase the number of breeding birds we have attached special sparrow boxes to the Potting Shed, stable and barn in the hope that we can attract more nesting birds. We will then be able to ring chicks in the nest as part of the study.
To date 175 separate House Sparrows have been fitted with colour rings as part of the RAS project, initial observations suggest that breeding birds and chicks disperse from Blacksmiths Cottage in early autumn, being replaced by wintering birds.
Sparrow facts: BTO = British Trust for Ornithology RAS = Rearing and Survival Project Blacksmiths RAS Project Number: 192 7 RAS House Sparrow Projects in the UK Since 1970 the East of England has suffered the worst decline of over 90% Between 1994-2002 a further 22% population decline was recorded in the east. |
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House Sparrow Project |
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SPARROW SUNDAY
Sunday 10th August 10am-2pm Free Entry Come along and find out more about our project. |