Sparrows thriving on organic farm

Description:

Tree sparrow numbers may be plummeting across the UK, but on one farm near Spalding it appears the bird is thriving.

Nicholas Watts, who runs Vine House Farm in Deeping St Nicholas, said the flock had a good breeding season this summer and there are now about 130 birds on the farm.

He said wildlife benefited from his organic farming methods and from funding schemes which pay farmers to introduce environmental measures on their land, including hedgerows and grass margins. And, of course, the tree sparrows obviously enjoy the food put out for them on the farm.

Mr Watts said: "I just feed them on red millet. We farm this farm organically and that, plus the Countryside Stewardship, has really increased the wildlife."

The once-common tree sparrow saw numbers decline by 85 per cent between 1968 and 1991 and its range shrank by a fifth in the same period.

It is thought its decline is the result of changing agricultural practices, including increased use of herbicides, changes in the sowing of crops, more intensive management of grassland and general reduction of habitats on farmland.

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