A FEW WEEKS AGO we discussed a reader's concern as to a possible shortage of birds at feeders. A gentleman who resides in Newbury wrote: “I am writing to comment on your 01/14/12 article about the couple in Sunapee whose birds have disappeared. I live a few miles away in Newbury, and my father lives in New London, and we've both noticed the same thing. I have two large feeders (filled with black oil sunflower seeds) which I filled 5-6 weeks ago and neither has been emptied yet (should take 3-4 days normally). I changed one to a different seed thinking that might be the problem, but still no change. Other than a few chickadees, there are no birds this year. No titmice, juncos, finches, etc.

“I am reluctant to blame this on Irene as the winds weren't that bad, and from a bird's point of view, it wasn't much more than a large rain storm. It has been so warm that up until last week we had songbirds visiting. And we saw a large flock at the summit of Mt.

Sunapee recently. Very strange.”

A Concord reader who lives in a rural, “oak forest” 2-1/2 miles from the State House wrote: “I have also noticed an absence of birds. They usually compete to perch and eat in the morning; gold finches, pine siskins, redpolls, etc. I have only a few downy and hairy woodpeckers. In years past, I had many. For the 4th year, a red-bellied woodpecker has been visiting.

I am also seeing blackcapped chickadees, brown creepers, nuthatches and tufted titmice.

“It was interesting to read in your article about other people noting an absence of birds. By the way, I live in an ‘oak forest' but they did not produce acorns this year. Usually I rake them and toss them over the edge of the hill in back of my house, and deer visit, expose the acorns and eat them. I have not seen deer or their tracks.”

A Northwood couple wrote in part: “As reported by many readers, we have had far fewer birds than usual. Several days may go by without needing to refill the sunflower feeder.

Perhaps this lack of snow has allowed more feeding in woods and fields. That may change now that we have had a snow storm.

“In your column of January I3, you wrote about your Christmas visit of a red-bellied woodpecker.

We, too, have had one at our suet feeder many times in recent days. He is here in the morning, usually about eight o'clock. He stays on the feeder for a much longer time than either the Hairy or Downy who mostly stay just long enough to get a beak-full, then adjourn to the tree nearby.

“Though there have been far fewer chickadees and their friends eating the sunflower seeds, we do have English Sparrows aplenty.

Nothing seems to discourage them. I so wish they would return to wherever they were all the years we had none. They were with us back in the years when we kept horses for our children. Several months ago one of our granddaughters began keeping her horses here on the homestead and you guessed it, the English Sparrows have returned.

There must be a connection. What can you tell me about it?”

English sparrows (Passer domesticus) have had an interesting history in the United States as their sheer numbers and their aggressive behavior in defending their territory has caused them to be held in low esteem by many. The English or house sparrow, is a member of an old world group of birds that make up the weaverbird family. They are not related to any of our American sparrows as they belong to the finch family (Fringilidae).

The house sparrow's American genesis began when eight pairs were introduced at Brooklyn, N.Y., in 1850 by Hon. Nicholas Pike and other directors of the Brooklyn Museum.

Strange as it may seem, the birds did not thrive and, in 1852,many more were imported. Those that survived that winter in confinement were released in Greenwood Cemetery. These original introductions did not account for today's population, however. In 1854, more sparrows were released in Portland, Maine, and in 1858, or thereabouts, additional birds were set free at Peacedale, R.I., and Boston, Mass. The birds did not become well-established in Boston, though, until 1869. At New Haven, Conn., sparrows were released in 1867. There are more than 100 cases on record of the introduction of this bird in various places in the U.S. and Canada. They multiplied exceedingly and spread with amazing rapidity and before 1875 the species reached San Francisco.

Their prime food was oats, gleaned from the manure horses dropped on the streets. The birds spent so much time “following the horses,” that they gained the nickname “sporting birds.”

Stacey Cole's address is 529 W. Swanzey Road, Swanzey 03446.