What could be the cause of a 70% reduction in house sparrow numbers over the past 50 years? This is precisely what a new citizen science project is aiming to investigate, and Essex Wildlife Trust would like as many people as possible to add their data to a county-wide survey to help answer this baffling question.

House sparrows have been cohabiting with us for centuries, and we don’t know why their numbers have started to decline so drastically in recent years. But, in a county with lots of houses and gardens, the residents of Essex might be able to shed some light on the issue.

Last spring, I took part in a prototype survey, to test out appropriate survey methods and a new app-based survey tool. This helped to iron out the process, and the House Sparrow Project is now ready to launch for real in 2025. And, if you enjoy taking part in the annual Big Garden Bird Watch, I can guarantee that you will love contributing to this.

It’s very straightforward and doesn’t require too much time commitment. All we were asked to do was survey a chosen area (mine was my own back garden) twice, for 30 minutes each time, within three hours of sunrise. As the survey takes place in March and April, this isn’t frighteningly early; I did mine around 8am. We were asked to record the maximum number of house sparrows we saw within the 30-minute period, plus any other species that we saw land during the survey.

There were a few subsidiary questions about the chosen area and potential breeding behaviours of the birds you have seen, but nothing too complicated. And a zero count (i.e. you didn’t see any sparrows at all) is just as important to record as a huge flock of birds! Each of my surveys took me less than an hour to complete and send in.

- Sue Huggett, Campaigns Volunteer

Sign up to the House Sparrow Project