Sparrow is a social bird and this is one reason why it loves to be with the humans. Out of the different varieties that exist, the one that lives close to the humans is the house sparrow. It’s found in most of the countries of the world.
Given its reputation, it’s common for the house sparrow to make its nests in the human dwelling units either at the ventilators or on the walls of buildings. Like any other birds, it puts a hard labour to build it out of dry hay, sticks, rags, cotton, etc. Considering its size it takes a number of days to craft the nest for its family.
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| A Sparrow sitting outside glass window |
To bring out a comparison, the sight of the bird is more common in cities than in towns and villages. In truth, the rapid pace of modernisation has paved the way for high-rise buildings and sky scrapper in the cities. As a result of this, the ventilators of houses disappeared. This, in turn, makes it work hard to find a suitable space to build its nest. If it doesn’t find a suitable ventilator then it builds its nest in the holes of walls or between the bricks of old buildings.
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| A baby sparrow |
However, the heartening fact is that the bird is decreasing in numbers day by day. There is no denying that sighting a sparrow has become rare not only in cities but also in villages and town. Many also feel the exact reason for its decreasing numbers is an unsolved mystery. According to ornithologists or environmentalist, the excess use of insecticides is one of the reasons. A chick (baby sparrow) relies on a high protein diet for its overall development. So, they feed on a variety of insects to comply with this natural requirement. The usage of insecticides and pesticides create a big scarcity of food (insects) for these tiny living creatures. Besides, the grown up sparrow needs a rich supplement of high protein food as well. And in the scarcity of insects it feeds on available seeds. Conditions get worse when it consumes seeds that contain a high level of insecticides on them. Not only it indirectly affects the baby birds but also cuts short the life span of the grown-up birds.
As a normal human being with limited knowledge on environment and its proceedings, we are not aware of the actual cause behind the drastic decrease in the numbers of the bird. However, we could make out that the rise of tall structures has created a scarcity of space for its nest. Then, the grasses in the housings and complexes are often trimmed to keep them short so that these could arrest the visual appeal. In the process, the grasses are cut before they bear seeds that insects feed on. Again, insects are the natural food of sparrow. So, the early trimming of grasses disturbs the natural cycle to a great extent. Moreover, ponds are also the breeding grounds for a variety of insects but these are also filled up to catch up with the need of human dwelling units. All these have directly or indirectly led to the decrease in the number of insects and in turn in the number of birds.
Last but not the least are the cell phone towers. The radiations from these towers not only have an adverse affect on the health of humans but also on plants, animals, and birds. And in a nutshell, all these reasons add up to the decrease in the number of the birds.
As humans, we are also deeply attached to this bird and it’s high time now to realise the present condition and think about its well-being and conversation. Even if it appears to be a gamble we should be morally prepared to take the risk. In 2012, the house sparrow was declared the State Bird of Delhi by the then state government. Even though the incident at that moment left many wondering why? The answer was simple, firstly because it was a little effort of kindness from the mankind towards a bird that finds its happiness in the company of humans. And secondly, because it was a noble move in the direction of protection and conservation of the bird. At this point what we need is a little bit of more awareness before it’s too late to recover the damage.