1889 An Act to provide for the Destruction of Sparrows
Whereas it is
desirable to make provision for the destruction of sparrows
Be it
therefore Enacted by the Governor of the Province of South Australia, with
the advice and consent of the Legislative Council and House of Assembly of
the said province, in this present Parliament assembled, as follows:
March 16, 1892
DESTRUCTION OF SPARROWS.
The third annual distribution of prizes in connection with the Sparrow Destruction Club was held in in the Wesleyan Lecture Hall, Brighton, on Friday, March 11. Mr. Joseph Curnow, J.P. (President), was in the chair.
The Secretary (Mr. S. H. Shephard) reported that the returns for the season were 15,557 birds destroyed, at a cost of £11 14s. 3d. Last season the club paid at the rate of 2s. per hundred, but owing to the number being larger and the subscriptions less the rate this season was only 1s. 6d. per hundred.
Thirty one boys competed, and the highest number obtained by one boy was by Joseph Downing, 2,425. Last year this same boy collected nearly 4,000, while at the Adelaide Show on Thursday seven boys did not obtain 5,000.
A report from the Secretary (Mr. George Western) was received from the Marion Club, and showed that 10,922 had been destroyed there at a cost of £10 I2s. 3d., being at the rate of 2s, per hundred, the same as last year.
The Marion District Council and the Brighton Corporation voted a sum of £5 to each respective club. The combined efforts of the two clubs have resulted in the destruction of nearly 67,000 sparrows in three years - in 1890, 10,000; 1891, 21,238; 1892, 20,479; grand total, 56,717.
These figures speak for themselves. Taking into consideration these numbers, with their increase and compound increase, there would have been about as many millions in the ordinary course of events to worry and harass the farmer and fruitgrower. If this method were adopted all over the colony in a few years the sparrow pest would be completely eradicated at a very low cost. The following is the prize list......
August 21, 1894
A RAID ON SPARROWS
On Saturday the Glenelg Corporation officers were engaged in distributing wheat to local ratepayers with which to poison the sparrows that flit about the municipality.
It was arranged that a special day should be set apart for an effort at destruction, so that the action would be combined and widespread. About 70 residents applied at the Town Hall, and each received a bag of the poisoned grain, but it is of course too soon to be able to gauge yet the result of this attack upon the birds.
One of the councillors told his colleagues at their meeting on Friday evening that the sparrows would prove too cunning for all their devices. "He had tried to get rid of them by means of poisoned grain, but they only looked at it and with a grin shook their little tails and away they flew."
Some of the ratepayers being pigeon fanciers view the action with great disfavour. The local homing fraternity, or some of those that are supposed to represent them, make all sorts of threats that if any of their prize birds are killed by the poisoned wheat they will take action against the persons responsible.
News 20 November 2008
The population of house sparrows in Britain has fallen by 68% in the past three decades, according to the RSPB.
A report by the charity said the paving over of front gardens and removal of trees had caused a big decline in insects that the birds eat.
It suggests sparrows are now disappearing altogether from cities such as London, Bristol and Edinburgh. .....
The house sparrow has been added to the list of species identified by the UK Biodiversity Action Plan as in need of greater protection.