House Sparrows at Heligan
The dramatic decline of the house sparrow in recent decades is well documented, yet here at Heligan, numbers remain stable. Year after year they breed in nest boxes attached to the side of Horsemoor Hide where thousands of visitors stream past the families that often produce 3 broods per season.
We have two cameras in this classic blue tit nest box although the entrance hole is 32mm in diameter, just wide enough for our well fed Heligan sparrows! The 2 chicks hatched on 8th June and the remaining eggs you can see in the nest are unlikely to hatch. Adult house sparrows are vegetarian, yet parents feed their young on insects so watch out for a varied menu of flies and other invertebrates.
Unlike the neat and tidy nest made by the tit family, sparrow nests appears random and messy! The Heligan sparrows collect all sorts of items for nest building, they have a particular liking for pheasant feathers.
As their Latin name (Passer domesticus) suggests, sparrows have a very close relationship with man and have been an integral part of the Heligan landscape for centuries. The Steward’s House garden, pleasure grounds and hedgerows of East and West Lawn are good places to see them dust bathing and generally interacting with one another. They are very sociable birds and will flock all year round.
Come spring some pairs will speculate the nest boxes outside Horsemoor Hide in which over 50 successful broods have been raised in recent years. A large proportion of the Hide population spend the day in the hedgerow that separates Steward’s Meadow and Horsemoor; over 100 strong flock can be so loud you can hear the collective twitters and cheeps even from Hide Park Corner!
Recognition and habitat
At Heligan we have a country version of the more common urban sparrow, the difference being our version has a more defined plumage. If you have time and binoculars, look at their intricate wing plumage, a beautiful chestnut brown with black flecks. The male has a warm brown coloured nape and a black bib whereas the female and young are rather drab in comparison.
Predators and Prey
Heligan supports a thriving population of sparrowhawks that keep the sparrow population in check although the most effective predator nationally is the domestic cat. House sparrows are carnivorous for the first few weeks of life when chicks are fed on highly nutritious caterpillars and flies. As adults they are granivores and feed on grain and seed heads.
Life Cycle
Sparrows can breed all year round given warm conditions however in this country they tend to have 2 or 3 broods in natural holes and nest boxes. The nest is an untidy ball of grass lined with feathers. The pairs that breed outside the Hide can be seen live on screen and we often see 3 broods from a single box.
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