Eurasian tree sparrow
Although the Eurasian tree sparrow has been expanding its range in Fennoscandia and eastern Europe, populations have been declining in much of western Europe, a trend reflected in other farmland birds such as the skylark, corn bunting and northern lapwing. From 1980 to 2003, common farmland bird numbers fell by 28%. The collapse in populations seems to have been particularly severe in Great Britain, where there was a 95% decline between 1970 and 1998, and Ireland, which had only 1,000–1,500 pairs in the late 1990s. In the British Isles, such declines may be due to natural fluctuations, to which Eurasian tree sparrows are known to be prone. Breeding performance has improved substantially as population sizes have decreased, suggesting that decreases in productivity were not responsible for the decline and that survival was the critical factor. The large decline in Eurasian tree sparrow numbers is probably the result of agricultural intensification and specialisation, particularly the increased use of herbicides and a trend towards autumn-sown crops (at the expense of spring-sown crops that produce stubble fields in winter). The change from mixed to specialised farming and the increased use of insecticides has reduced the amount of insect food available for nestlings.