http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1474-919x.2005.00427.x/abstract
This is another article, but it's an online one, which I think there is a hard copy in the library, and it's looking more at the statistics than the reasons behind it. I think, if I can find the journal this article is in so I can have a proper look and read of it, it would be good for the more technical side of my project, statistics and such.
Thursday, 26 January 2012
More studies
http://informahealthcare.com/doi/abs/10.1080/15368370701410558
This is a summery of a study into the theory that electromagnetic radiation from radiation, from phone antennae, either on it's own or as a part of a combination of other things, potentially affecting sparrow population. This makes sense if you consider the theory that birds navigate using electromagnetic waves from the planet, or maybe it's interfering with they're brains because of the small size (as electromagnetic radiation affects ours). This is something interesting to think about, even though I don't have access to the whole article, and it shows that there are a lot of theories about the decline, and some very obscure ones.
This is a summery of a study into the theory that electromagnetic radiation from radiation, from phone antennae, either on it's own or as a part of a combination of other things, potentially affecting sparrow population. This makes sense if you consider the theory that birds navigate using electromagnetic waves from the planet, or maybe it's interfering with they're brains because of the small size (as electromagnetic radiation affects ours). This is something interesting to think about, even though I don't have access to the whole article, and it shows that there are a lot of theories about the decline, and some very obscure ones.
More studies
http://www.springerlink.com/content/g451880j47nx3h70/
This is an extract from a review on the status of the urban House Sparrow, specifically in north-western Europe as this is the more built up area. One interesting thing it says (which I have read in other studies) is that the change from using horse to cars and tractors ect must have had an impact, what with the amount of seeds from feed which would have been ,particularly with house sparrows which have always had a close relationship with humans, a substantial part of they're diet, as well as the increasing amount of dangerous gases in the air (though this was in the 20s and 30s, it may have been a breaking point in the population of rural sparrows). When considering the urban decline there are less clear cut explanations, as the decline is still going and not stabilising like the rural one has. I need to find the whole paper, whether as a hard or digital copy, as it looks like it would consider the reasons as well as the current state of the population.
This is an extract from a review on the status of the urban House Sparrow, specifically in north-western Europe as this is the more built up area. One interesting thing it says (which I have read in other studies) is that the change from using horse to cars and tractors ect must have had an impact, what with the amount of seeds from feed which would have been ,particularly with house sparrows which have always had a close relationship with humans, a substantial part of they're diet, as well as the increasing amount of dangerous gases in the air (though this was in the 20s and 30s, it may have been a breaking point in the population of rural sparrows). When considering the urban decline there are less clear cut explanations, as the decline is still going and not stabilising like the rural one has. I need to find the whole paper, whether as a hard or digital copy, as it looks like it would consider the reasons as well as the current state of the population.
Friday, 13 January 2012
A study on urban house sparrow decline
This is primarily looking at nestling survival rate, depending mostly on the types of food fed to them and the amount of nitrogen in the air.
http://www.katevincent.org/parentpage1.htm
http://www.katevincent.org/parentpage1.htm
Sparrow links off RSPB
The RSPB is a really good resource for the basic information on birds (funnily enough) and it also has a red, amber and green rating on the population of bird breeds, red meaning alot of concern and dramatic decline in the last 50 years and green basically meaning no concern. Both of the British Sparrow breeds are category red. What I want to look at is the reasons behind this.
House Sparrow
Tree Sparrow
House Sparrow
Tree Sparrow
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