Many in India have grown up with the chirruping of the house sparrows. These tiny little grey birds have been constant companions, sometimes noisy neighbors, morning alarm bells, and fluttering representatives of the aerial species that live amidst humans.
Unfortunately, while once you opened your windows to be automatically greeted by their calls, the house sparrows have stopped calling your house their home in the present world.
Their numbers are dwindling at such a high rate, that conservationists are concerned, that this specie that has had such an amicable relationship with the urban world, may slowly but steadily be losing its population and just not finding its little space among the concrete jungle anymore. According to a survey there has been an 80 percent decline in their population.
Today the reasons for the sparrows’ decline are largely electromagnetic radiation from mobile phones and lack of insect food due to excessive use of pesticide in urban gardens. But most certainly, it is the loss of habitat that drives any species towards extinction.
It is therefore, that last year the world decided to dedicate a day to the common house bird that is becoming uncommon. 20th March is thus World House Sparrow day.
If you have been friends with this chirrupy neighbor for a long time and want your kids and their kids to remember the feathery mate as fondly as you have, just pledge today that you will make your home more house sparrow friendly.
Here is how,
- Create a mini forest within your housing society or home compound.
- The house sparrow is not a fussy eater, therefore place any kind of seed, flower seed, bread, and grain and even home leftovers at a pre designated place every day for them to feed on.
- Place a water vessel at a comfortable location.
- If you have the space in your balcony or garden, hang a nesting place like a bamboo basket, an earthen pot that they find safe and secure.
- Use cellular phones as little as possible.
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