MALENY SPARROWS; the last of the breed?

We were having a nosh at the Italian restaurant opposite the post office in that little compound of shops in Maleny, sitting outside, and listening to the cheerful chirping of a few sparrows, whose very distant ancestors had been imported on sailing ships from the Old Country, what, 150 years ago?

These little nondescript brown birds were endemic to the British Isles, tolerated but pests nevertheless, and thrived in their millions around all human endeavour, seemingly unable to survive without us and our buildings. Certainly few if any were ever seen in rural areas, or forests, moors, uninhabited coasts; but every village and city gave them nesting sites.

In fact sparrows nest exclusively in human habitation. Never in a tree, or a hole in a bank, or in a field, but always, with rare exceptions, in a roof of human construction. Needless to say, the roof must have its faults, to allow access to the little birds, and any thatching is open to infestation, which is why modern thatch is now covered with steel mesh.

Any crack or gap, or cracked tile, or vent, or loose fascia, or missing brick, any tiny hole will be found and used by a keen sparrow-pair for their family. The best, and most inviting access, however, was found in Australia: the un-nailed corrugations of roof-iron at the fascia. Now that nail-patterns are now standardised with roof-screws, and every corrugation fixed at the gutter-edge, that sparrow-access has gone, and most sparrows with it.

In fact we are such a wealthy and fastidious lot that our buildings both domestic and industrial, are virtually sparrow-proof. Well-built and maintained, they offer no fortuitous gaps and holes for a nesting pair, and that pair will not choose any natural site for their home; not a tree, or hedge, or earthen bank will be considered.

I have long thought that this lack of nest-sites is responsible for the demise of sparrows. Within the last 50 years our suburbs and cities have been sparrow-proofed. No sites, no nests, no sparrows; it doesn’t take long: they don’t live long.

Likeable as the little mites are, and cheerful in chatter and song, and cute around restaurant tables (to the customers, not the health authorities), there is a condition caused by sparrows that is utterly impossible to live with.

One hot summer night in my VJ lodging, a typical old Queensland house, I woke up as is my wont for my mid-sleep read; around one a.m. The book was propped on the wall, but after a while a curious effect had me staring at the VJs, which appeared to be somehow hard to focus on. Never seen this before; was it tiredness? Eye-strain? The paint seemed to be shifting slightly as I stared at it. I put on my magnifying specs: the wall was crawling with millions of microscopic crab-like creatures.

So was my bed, my clothes, everything. Sparrow-mites.

I had been uncomfortably itchy for a few days, and assumed prickly-heat and the climate was to blame, but no; bloody sparrows were nesting in the roof, and their parasites had invaded my space. All my clothes and bedding had to be washed, the room cleaned and fumigated, the roof off and all nests, and sadly, chicks too thrown out and the spaces sprayed. I used cans of Aerogard……the first available stuff I thought would do the trick, and it did.

I spent the whole day roofing, cleaning, spraying, fumigating and washing clothes and bedding. This is why sparrows are disappearing from our suburbs. Although I was happy to have them around, I had never suffered their parasites before, and never wish to again; the itching and rash took three weeks to dissipate.

Perhaps in cold old Britain the sparrow-mites don’t proliferate to such an extent, for I never heard of the situation over there. I made sure the roof of our rented house was impregnable after that episode though, and perhaps my attitude is causing the demise of those cute little creatures. But where do they live in Maleny, and the few other places where they exist, like Newcastle, NSW?

Well, there must be secret holes and gaps in roofs wherever sparrows are found. And should those be closed, the sparrows will die-out shortly after, for they will not adapt to any other environment, for they belong with us, and if we reject them, it seems they have no place to go.

If we can’t live with sparrows (and I don’t recommend it), perhaps we could give them suitable housing, specially built at some little distance away, exclusively for their use (not mice or rats or humans), for pest as they are, they are OUR pests, and I for one would miss them.

Help save the innocent cheeky sparrow, we’d be lonely without their cheerful chirping, and would have to pick up our own crumbs. Or rats would.