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Story: Introduced land birds

The sparrow pest

The sparrow pest

House sparrows were introduced to New Zealand in 1866. But by 1878, only 12 years later, the Otago Witness was reporting a meeting in Kaiapoi to deal with the sparrow pest. By then sparrows were having a serious effect on grain crops and farmers, as this account suggests, were resorting to radical measures.

About this item

National Library of New Zealand, Papers Past
Reference: Otago Witness, 22 June 1878, p. 3

Permission of the National Library of New Zealand, Te Puna Matauranga o Aotearoa, must be obtained before any re-use of this image.

How to cite this page:

Christina Troup. 'Introduced land birds', Te Ara - the Encyclopedia of New Zealand, updated 27-Sep-11
URL: http://www.TeAra.govt.nz/en/introduced-land-birds/11/4