Record radio interview. Host Evgeniya Nazarets. The correspondent of Radio Liberty in London Natalia Golitsyna is taking part.
Eugenia Nazarets: British ornithologists and bird protection societies are trying to draw public attention to an alarming fact: sparrows have almost disappeared in large cities in the United Kingdom. Why this happened is still not fully understood
Natalia Golitsyna: One of the largest British bird watchers, Professor Keith Vincent, called the disappearance of sparrows in British cities "the most mysterious degradation of the population of living things in recent years." Since the mid-1980s, the number of sparrows has declined in Britain by 68%. Sparrows have all but disappeared in central London. So, in St. James's Park, which is located near Buckingham Palace, is full of garden birds - tits, blackbirds, robins, but no sparrows. And more recently, their flocks chirped there. Sparrows began to disappear from London parks in the late 1990s, and for no apparent reason. These birds have inhabited British cities since ancient times and have always been part of the cityscape. Unlike China, which has had national campaigns to eradicate sparrows, in England sparrows are protected by the 1981 Wildlife Act. The British Parliament has ruled that deliberately killing sparrows, destroying their nests or catching them is a criminal offense and punishable to the fullest extent of the law. Not only ornithologists are fighting over the problem of the disappearance of sparrows, but also numerous public organizations such as the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds, the British Ornithological Foundation, "Natural England". Executive Secretary of the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds Tim Webb in an interview with Radio Liberty puts forward his version of the reason for the disappearance of sparrows in British cities.as the Royal Society for the Conservation of Birds, British Bird Foundation, Natural England. Executive Secretary of the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds Tim Webb in an interview with Radio Liberty puts forward his version of the reason for the disappearance of sparrows in British cities.as the Royal Society for the Conservation of Birds, British Bird Foundation, Natural England. Executive Secretary of the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds Tim Webb in an interview with Radio Liberty puts forward his version of the reason for the disappearance of sparrows in British cities.
Tim Webb: We're not entirely sure about that, but the research project we're currently pursuing links the extinction of sparrows to the decrease in insects during their breeding season. We found that many sparrow chicks starve to death while still in their nests.
Natalia Golitsyna: But do sparrows feed on cereals?
Tim Webb: They do eat grains, their food is quite varied, but they also need insects, especially for the chicks when they feed in the nests. This is the way sparrows supply chicks with water, liquid. In addition, it is an essential source of protein for them during their growth.
Natalia Golitsyna: Other versions of the disappearance of sparrows are also being put forward: diseases caused by the high content of pesticides in cereals, the disappearance of nesting sites in cities due to their reconstruction, the reduction of green urban areas and the destruction of trees, which leads to the death of insects. If all this is true, then does the blame for the disappearance of city sparrows fall on man?
Tim Webb: As an organization, we invest large sums of money in research to figure out how to save sparrows. However, city dwellers themselves can do a lot. For example, build feeders for them in summer and winter. And during the feeding season of the chicks, they could plant such plants in their front gardens, the grains of which could become natural food for sparrows and would stimulate the reproduction of insects. In Britain, when we tend our gardens, we lick them too much, using fertilizers rich in pesticides and other chemicals that kill insects. We also need to change our approach to gardening. We are now launching a new research project in London to answer the question of how our parks and public spaces should be remodeled so that sparrows find food there - insects and grains. The project starts in early 2009. Research is being carried out to improve the nesting of sparrows. So the solution to this problem is seen in how people react to their natural environment.
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