Freefall in numbers: A file photo of sparrows, a rare sight in the cities, sitting near a pond on the outskirts of Visakhapatnam. more-in It’s official! The gregarious house sparrows, once a common sight in neighbourhoods, are in trouble and declining in cities and rural areas. According to a recent research done by conservationists, the sparrow population has dwindled by 70 per cent in urban areas and by 50 per cent in rural areas. The disappearance of sparrows has been widely reported. With an aim to raise awareness on the declining numbers of the sparrow and initiate conservation measures, the World Sparrow Day was observed across the world on Monday, March 20. An initiative of the Nature Forever Society of India that was first started in 2010, the day is now celebrated across the globe to bring back the chirrup of the sparrow in our backyard. Speaking to The Hindu, Prof. (retd.) B. Bharatha Lakshmi of Department of Zoology, Andhra University, said the reasons for the sparrow’s decline in urban and rural spaces were different. “Owing to various ecological disturbances, the population of this friendly bird has witnessed a freefall. Primary reasons behind this are non availability of food (due to changing lifestyles), lack of nesting places in urban areas and excessive use of pesticides in rural zones which has led to the decline in the total insect population leading affecting the population of many familiar bird species including house sparrows that feed on insects. Mobile phone towers and microwave pollution are silent killers of the house sparrows,” Ms. Lakhsmi said. A decade ago, the sparrows used to find nesting places below tiled roofs of houses and ventilator holes. With contemporary architecture making a clean sweep in cities, sparrows have lost their nesting spots. “Previously, the sparrows would peck at grains in backyards of homes. But now, with the concept of backyards virtually extinct and closed dustbins and polythene packaging taking over from gunny bags, the feeds of sparrows have vanished. Meanwhile, the use of pesticides has wiped off the bugs the bird feeds its young ones with,” Ms. Lakshmi added. She pointed out that with fewer insects to feed on, the infant mortality rates of sparrow went up. Awareness Various organisations and educational institutions have come forward to revive the dwindling sparrow population by spreading awareness about growing kitchen gardens to boost insect population, use nest boxes and feeders and reduce the usage of pesticides. Puranabanda village near Berhamapur is spearheading a movement to revive sparrow population by using bird feeders and nests in every household. As a result, the population size of sparrows has increased to 400 there. Schools such as Yendada ZP High School celebrated the day by carrying paper sparrows and conducting sparrow processions to create awareness. On Sunday, an awareness meet was held at the Indira Gandhi Zoological Park to increase the population of the house sparrows.

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