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Relations with man
People have a love-hate relationship with the house sparrow. However, control attempts have failed to limit the sparrows numbers and range.
People have a love-hate relationship with the house sparrow. For many they are the most familiar of wild animals, bringing life to city centres and other man-made places, bereft of wildlife.
The house sparrows partiality to grain crops and the damage and destruction this caused resulted in attempts to control their numbers. From the mid-18th century most parishes had sparrow clubs with the sole objective to destroy as many sparrows as possible. Bounties were paid for sparrows until the late 19th century, when it was accepted that the control measures did not work. Similar failures were recorded in a number of other European countries.
Ironically, as people in Europe were paid to kill sparrows as pests, others deliberately introduced them to places as far apart as Australia and New York. Initially they were welcomed, although later appreciation turned to serious concern for the impact on crops. By then sparrows had become well established and control attempts have failed to limit the sparrows numbers and range.