Mystery over sparrows being killed by someone adorning them with trinkets around their necks

Sparrows are being killed in Wellington, New Zealand, by someone putting trinkets around their necks, the SPCA says. Five dead sparrows with wire rings round their necks have been found.



Each wire ring had a trinket attached. Wellington SPCA spokesman Mark Collyns said a dead sparrow was found in the eastern Wellington suburb of Kilbirnie a week ago, and by this weekend, four more had been found. One of the sparrows found dead in Wellington, strangled by a trinket placed round its neck. Trinkets included a pair of dice as well as a star, heart, and triangle cut from plastic.

"We can only assume that these were made and attached as some sort of decoration in mind, but the result is that they are becoming trapped in the birds' beak when they are trying to remove them, and the bird is dying as a result," a SPCA spokesperson said. "These birds will be suffering tremendously and having a slow death from starvation."



The SPCA received another couple of calls about dead sparrows on Monday morning. Collyns said it was assumed the person behind the killings had no sinister intent but "you just don't know do you". "It seems a bit far-fetched to think it's being done because of dislike. It's obviously a slightly warped way of showing care," he said. It was unclear how the sparrows had been trapped and decorated in the first place.

There's an audio news report here.