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La Tour du Valat

Institut de recherche pour la conservation des zones humides méditerranéennes

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Titre :	[Documentation of a serious decline in House sparrow Passer domesticus populations in Germany on the basis of ornithological literature, 1850-2000.]
Auteurs :	Barbara Engler, Auteur ; Hans-Guenther Bauer, Auteur
Type de document :	Article
Dans :	Vogelwarte (41(3) September, 2002)
Article en page(s) :	196-210
Langues:	Allemand
Résumé :	The House sparrow, once the "Jack of all trades" in our avifauna, shows drastic declines all over Germany, which led to its categorization in the 'near-threatened' category of the recent German Red List (2002) and to its announcement as 'Bird of the year 2002' by nature conservation organization NABU. The paper reviews historical persecution practices in Germany in order to assess population sizes of sparrows in former times, but concludes that persecution was a political means to 'appease the masses' during hard times rather than the consequence of 'mass irruptions'. The analysis of abundance classification on the basis of ornithological literature from 1850-2000 shows that the House sparrow's decline started well before the 1970s and reveals an estimated population loss of some 50% since the first half of the 20th century. There is a clear difference in population trends between former East and West German regions, with the northwestern parts showing the most dramatic decline and the eastern the lowest (the south being intermediate). Two main factors contribute to the population declines: (a) changes in farming objectives, particularly the complete abandonment or strong reduction in local livestock (especially horses, also small animals), with a loss of associated food sources (oat cultivation, accessible food stores, extensive manure heaps etc.); (b) the increased efficiency of modern agriculture with e.g. the reduction in harvest losses, massive use of pesticides and disinfectants, reduction in crop diversity (specialization), and loss of stubble fields in winter. Increased isolation of viable breeding populations amplify the negative effects, as do secondary threat factors such as increased predation and road kills, structural changes (reduction of nest sites due to renovation or 'cleanliness'), interspecific competition, diseases, etc. Despite the positive effects of milder winters the decline in House sparrow numbers continues in Germany, with a distinct bias to its present 'stronghold', the East, where modern farming practices have slowly taken over.

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