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libri&quot;,sans-serif;color:#1F497D"><o:p>&nbsp;&l <!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Strict//EN" "http://www.w3.org= /TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-strict.dtd"><html xmlns=3D"http://www.w3.org/1999/xht= ml"><head> <meta content=3D"text/html; charset=3DUTF-8" http-equiv=3D"Content-Type= "/> =20 <style type=3D"text/css"><!-- /* Font Definitions */ @font-face {font-fa= mily: Batang; } @font-face {font-family: "Cambria Math"; } @font-face {font-family: Calibri; } @font-face {font-family: "\@Batang"; } /* Style Definitions */ p.MsoNormal, li.MsoNormal, div.MsoNormal {margin:= 0in; margin-bottom: .0001pt; font-size: 12.0pt; font-family: "Times New= Roman",serif;} a:link, span.MsoHyperlink { color: #0563C1; text-decoration: underline;= } a:visited, span.MsoHyperlinkFollowed { color: #954F72; text-decoration:= underline;} span.EmailStyle17 { font-family: "Calibri",sans-serif; color: #1F497D;} .MsoChpDefault { font-size: 10.0pt;} @page WordSection1 { margin: 1.0in 1.0in 1.0in 1.0in;} div.WordSection1 {} --></style> =20 </head><body style=3D""> =20 <div> <span style=3D"font-size: 12pt;">Well Lance, around horses and cows in t= he old</span> </div>=20 <div> <span style=3D"font-size: 12pt;">days there was no shortage of Insects a= nd other Anthropods during</span> </div>=20 <div> <span style=3D"font-size: 12pt;">the sparrows breeding season!<br/></spa= n> </div>=20 <div> <span style=3D"font-size: 12pt;">At times people complain to me about Bl= ack Flies, Mosquitos<br/></span> </div>=20 <div> <span style=3D"font-size: 12pt;">and so on - I hardly notice them. Well = conditioned to them am I!<br/></span> </div>=20 <div> <span style=3D"font-size: 12pt;">Enjoy November - insect free!<br/></spa= n> </div>=20 <div> <span style=3D"font-size: 12pt;">Paul<br/></span> </div>=20 <div> <span style=3D"font-size: 12pt;"> </span> </div>=20 <blockquote style=3D"padding-left: 10px; margin-left: 0px; border-left-co= lor: blue; border-left-width: 1px; border-left-style: solid; position: rela= tive;" type=3D"cite"> <!-- [if gte mso 9]> --> <!-- <![endif] --> <!-- [if gte mso 9]> --> <!-- <![endif] --> On November 20, 2015 at 11:26 AM "Laviolette, Lan= ce" <lance.laviolette@lmco.com> wrote: <br/> <br/>=20 <div class=3D"WordSection1">=20 <p class=3D"MsoNormal"><span style=3D"color: #1f497d; font-family: '= ;Calibri',sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;">Hi Peter,</span></p>=20 <p class=3D"MsoNormal"><span style=3D"color: #1f497d; font-family: '= ;Calibri',sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;"> </span></p>=20 <p class=3D"MsoNormal"><span style=3D"color: #1f497d; font-family: '= ;Calibri',sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;">There are undoubtedly a number = of factors contributing to the decline of House Sparrows. However one facto= r which has been pointed out by studies in the UK is a reduction in the abu= ndance of insects for nestlings. Whatever the cause in the decline in insec= t numbers (pesticides, predators, climate change, etc.), the hypothesis goe= s that less insects mean less protein for the young which results in less h= ealthy young fledging from the nest. These less fit birds don=E2=80=99t sur= vive very well in harsher, winter conditions. </span></p>=20 <p class=3D"MsoNormal"><span style=3D"color: #1f497d; font-family: '= ;Calibri',sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;"> </span></p>=20 <p class=3D"MsoNormal"><span style=3D"color: #1f497d; font-family: '= ;Calibri',sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;">The reason European Starlings a= re not declining may be attributed to their diet also. From the Birds of No= rth America accounts:</span></p>=20 <p class=3D"MsoNormal"><span style=3D"color: #1f497d; font-family: '= ;Calibri',sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;"> </span></p>=20 <p class=3D"MsoNormal"><span style=3D"color: #1f497d; font-family: '= ;Calibri',sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;">House Sparrow - Insects and oth= er arthropods during breeding season.</span></p>=20 <p class=3D"MsoNormal"><span style=3D"color: #1f497d; font-family: '= ;Calibri',sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;">European Starling - Extremely d= iverse diet that varies geographically, with the age of individuals, and wi= th season. Unusual abundances of food items=E2=80=A6 garbage, livestock fee= d, etc. are also exploited.</span></p>=20 <p class=3D"MsoNormal"><span style=3D"color: #1f497d; font-family: '= ;Calibri',sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;"> </span></p>=20 <p class=3D"MsoNormal"><span style=3D"color: #1f497d; font-family: '= ;Calibri',sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;">The diverse diet of starlings g= ives them a big edge when trying to survive and fledge healthy young in are= as where no one food type is sufficient by itself.</span></p>=20 <p class=3D"MsoNormal"><span style=3D"color: #1f497d; font-family: '= ;Calibri',sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;"> </span></p>=20 <p class=3D"MsoNormal"><span style=3D"color: #1f497d; font-family: '= ;Calibri',sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;">As Paul mentioned, House Sparro= ws used to be seen closely associated with cows and horses and they still a= re. However most of the large animal operations have now been replaced with= intensive agricultural crop raising farms. I=E2=80=99d call the resulting = corn and soya fields deserts compared to the diversity rich pastures and = =E2=80=98wild=E2=80=99 hay fields that used to be common even 20 years ago = except deserts are much richer in diversity. House Sparrows have gone from = being abundant and wide-spread to being locally common over that time. In m= y area in summer they are now focused almost exclusively around the few hor= se stabling operations that we have. In winter they show up at my feeders.<= /span></p>=20 <p class=3D"MsoNormal"><span style=3D"color: #1f497d; font-family: '= ;Calibri',sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;"> </span></p>=20 <p class=3D"MsoNormal"><span style=3D"color: #1f497d; font-family: '= ;Calibri',sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;"&g