Sparrows lose homes in urban jungle

MUMBAI: Sparrows seems to be flying out in search of another habitat.

The house sparrows, the most commonly sighted bird in the country, is gradually losing its presence in the urban landscape.

According to the Common Bird Monitoring of India (CBMI), a year-old initiative of environment organization Nature Forever Society, the sparrow is now the fourth most common bird in the country.

The CBMI identified 794 locations in the country where rock pigeons are found, 822 locations where crows were often spotted, 743 where the common myna were spotted, and only 494 locations where the house sparrow were seen in the last one year.

CBMI observations also showed that Mumbai has the highest number of pigeons and crows in the country, while the presence of sparrows is almost half of their numbers.

The observations can be extended to major cities, including Mumbai, where the population of more resilient birds like pigeons and crows has grown despite rapid urbanization, but small birds, like sparrows, have faced a loss of habitat.

On World Sparrow Day ,on Wednesday, ecologists and nature lovers lament this change. Others feel that the bird's stint with humans might be over now.

"The city has many kabutarkhanas where abundance of grain has given an artificial boost to the number of pigeons. And, the open garbage provides a lot of food for the crows. Pigeons can subsist on grain and produce pigeon milk to feed their young ones. But it is not the same with sparrows," said Mohammed Dilawar from the Nature Forever Society.

Sparrows feed insects to their young. But the loss of green cover and open grounds in the city has modified the ecology and led to a decline in number of insects on which young sparrows feed.

Also, sparrows need nests, unlike pigeons. Sparrows require sheltered corners and trees to make a home. "There has been a fall in the number of nesting sites and loss of small prey due to loss of green patches. We must remember that Until sparrows and other small birds have little green patches, even derelict and overgrown little corners, where they can catch insects, it would be difficult for them to survive," said naturalist, writer and photographer Sunjoy Monga.

Ecologists believe that the sparrows represented a different world where houses were more open, and there were many nooks, crevices and green patches which made it easy for sparrows to co-habit with humans.

The change in urban architecture, characterized by small enclosed houses, wire meshed windows and lack of green space has left very little shelter for sparrows to nest.

"I feel the sparrow may have reached the peak of having made the most of its association and commensalism on humanity and will possibly stabilise to a different level under a different set of conditions now,"added Monga. He added that we cannot re-create the situations of the past.

On World Sparrow Day, the Nature Forever Society launched a campaign where people can observe sparrows in their area for 15 minutes and report it on their website. People can also report if they do not spot the bird.