The house sparrow has been added to the list of species identified by the UK Biodiversity Action Plan as in need of greater protection. The study, published in the journal Animal Conservation, concluded that the decline in house sparrows in Britain began in the mid-1980s. In London, numbers fell by 60% between 1994 and 2004.

Gardeners could help sparrows by “being lazy, doing nothing and allowing the garden to be a little bit scruffy”.

As anyone who’s been at Gainsford around dawn or dusk can testify, the house sparrows make so much noise residents can barely hear themselves think.