Local MP Lynne supports Feather-y friends

House sparrows, blue tits and great tits the most spotted birds in Haringey

LOCAL MP Lynne Featherstone has welcomed news that Haringey is a safe haven for the UK’s fastest declining bird species, the cockney sparrow.

The cockney, or house, sparrow used to be seen everywhere, but over the past twenty years numbers have dropped dramatically, nowhere more so than in London.

But in Haringey it is the most common bird around, according to this year’s RSPB summer garden survey, Make Your Nature Count.

The poll also showed the blue tit and the great tit were the second and third most commonly spotted garden birds in the borough.

Ms Featherstone, MP for Hornsey and Wood Green, said: “The sparrow is still our most common garden bird with an average of two-and-a- half seen per garden in Haringey. Sadly they are found in less than half of the gardens surveyed and compared with 15 years ago, numbers are down about 70 per cent.”

“I know from talking with constituents that the majority of people are concerned about Haringey’s environment.

“Planting up window boxes, balconies and our outdoor spaces with native shrubs, flowers and grasses to provide food and shelter is a simple, pleasing and productive way to take personal action. We can all do our bits to help Haringey’s birds.”

RSPB spokesman Tim Webb said everyone could do their bit to help the local bird population.

“Birds are an indicator of the state of our surroundings and the fact that sparrows are vanishing at an alarming rate is cause for concern,” he said.

“I know Lynne’s doing her bit, but politicians can’t resolve this on their own. Our Feed the Birds Day web pages offer lots of low-cost ways to help wildlife whilst improving our own surroundings.”

For more information, go to www.rspb.org.uk/feedthebirds.