Panchkula and Pinjore will soon be home to a series of nest boxes for dainty little birds, once ubiquitous in the city’s backyards, but now found mainly in aviaries. This good news for all bird lovers comes on World Sparrow Day today. Advertising Vibhu Prakash, principal scientist at the Jatayu Conservation Breeding Centre, Haryana, said the Haryana forest department plans to set up 300 nest boxes across the state at an estimated cost of Rs 50 lakh. ‘’These will house 50,000 birds of various species and mainly, house sparrows,’’ said Prakash. Pinjore and Panchkula will also get to host these birds in specially designed nest boxes. ‘’Their number will depend on the interest shown by locals,’’ says Prakash. The locals do seem to be interested as is evident from a special programme organised by Post Graduate Institute of Medical Education and Research to mark this day on its campus Wednesday. The house sparrows started disappearing when farmers in the region and gardeners in the Tricity started raining pesticides on their crops. The little birds that feed worms to their newly-hatched chicks for first few days, could no longer do so and soon, their numbers started dwindling. ‘’Pesticides dealt a big blow to these birds,’’ said Prakash. Advertising Matinder Singh Sekhon, professor of Geography at DAV College, Sector 10, and an avid bird lover, blames rapid construction in the Tricity and proliferation of mobile towers as primary reasons for disappearance of these birds. Scientists have found that though the normal incubation period for sparrow eggs is 10 to 14 days, eggs laid in nests near mobile towers failed to hatch even after 30 days. Prakash says the nest boxes will also help them study the reasons for their disappearance. If you want to see house sparrows fluttering around, try warming up to Professor Sekhon, for he has 16 pairs at his one kanal house in Phase 3, Mohali. Sekhon says the birds were already there when he moved into his house. Subsequently, he made two nests for them to ensure a comfortable habitat. Pleased with his hospitality, the birds never left. Both, Prakash and Sekhon, call for spreading awareness about importance of conserving habitat of birds in the region. ‘’Youngsters these days are too busy with online games to care about their surroundings,’’ they rued, warning that even a law cannot save this bird, unless there is a change in the popular mindset. In 2010, Britain’s Royal Society of Protection of Birds listed the house sparrows (Passer domesticus) in the ‘Red List’ on the basis of the findings of researchers in different parts of the world, including India.

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