POSSIBLY we sometimes take our feathered friends for granted, but we would miss them if they vanished.

Inverclyde people have shown their dedication to wildlife by taking part in the annual ‘Big Garden Birdwatch’ survey organised by The Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB).

More than 200 Inverclyders were among 40,000 Scots who spent a weekend counting birds and species in their gardens.

January’s survey results are now out, and the house sparrow has been identified as the most common bird in Inverclyde, appearing in 52 per cent of gardens.

That’s no surprise, because these wee guys are as wily as monkeys and are down like a shot to grab any grub.

Bird food flies off the shelves of Inverclyde pet shops in considerable quantities, and is consumed eagerly by a wide variety of winged visitors.

Our garden had an incredibly friendly new robin, who, until recently, would hop right up to your feet for seed or bread.

He keeps his distance now, maybe because he’s older and warier or has been told off by a relative for getting too close to humans.

The RSPB say milder winters could be helping birds to thrive, so perhaps global warming has at least one good effect. Certainly, there’s been no need this winter to clear snow off the grass for them.

Feed the birds, as they say in ‘Mary Poppins’, and, please, try to keep cats away from them!