World House Sparrow fortnight begins ........

The diminutive house sparrow (Passer domesticus), whose nests dotted almost every house in the neighbourhood as well as public places like bus bays and railway stations, where they lived in colonies and survived on foodgrains and tiny worms, is now a disappearing species.

Is the sparrow's urban habitat responsible for its decline? Would it have been safer if it confined itself to the wilderness?

You won't find sparrows in jungles, deserts or places where humans are not present. The sparrow is a species that has evolved with humans and is always found in and around human habitations.

It's not the urban habitat but the modification in architecture , the pollution caused by microwave towers; the excessive use of pesticides, a gradual decrease in nesting sites, food sources and the replacement of native plants by exotic varieties, which are to be blamed.

Do sparrows, which are fiercely independent, lay eggs in the nests provided by us?

Since they have always been in and around humans, a nest box provided to them is willingly accepted by them. As the nest boxes replicate their natural nesting site it doesn't change its natural behaviour in any way.

Are sparrows an ignored species because the government spends a lot of money on saving other wild animals?

Somehow the concept of conservation as far as conservation of flora and fauna is concerned has always been T-centric that is Tiger and Threatened. If it isn't either of the Ts, it's not considered worthy of conservation in India.

This attitude towards conservation has to be changed. It's still a myth that only what is in the forests have to be considered for conservation. The layman doesn't even think that common birds like house sparrows, mynas or even squirrels are wild and also need to be conserved. These animals are also protected by the Wildlife Act of India.

This attitude is also within the scientific community ; in India there is very little research done on the common birds. Even after 60 years of Independence, we have no common bird monitoring system in place. The case of research on common birds of India is a classical example of how research and scientists are treated in India.

Do You know the reasons behind....................."Birds lovers have seen house sparrow disappear from our surroundings over the period of time houses. They are now almost limited to story telling to children."

"House sparrow is disappearing because of many reasons. The main reason being that EFFECT OF CELL PHONE RADIATION ON GAURIYA
SPARROWS PASSER DOMESTICUS , its routine habitat is missing from our modern houses,'' as well.

Are sparrows facing a threat of extinction only in India or across the globe?

The decline of house sparrows is a global phenomenon and the species is declining in most of its natural range. The decline is visible in countries like the UK where they have historical statistical data with a decline rate as high as 67% because of which its conservation status has been changed to a red listed species of high conservation concern.

Sadly in India, we don't have any historical statistical data because no one ever cared to count house sparrows.

NEW TO THE NEST?
    Still curious? Check out the following links for more information on the House Sparrow.

http://www.natureforever.org/adopt.html#housesparrow

http://www.natureforever.org/help.html

http://www.birds.cornell.edu/celebration/promote

नरेश कादयान http://nareshkadyan.blogspot.com/
अध्यक्ष,पीपल्स फॉर एनिमल हरियाणा,
Naresh Kadyan http://nareshkadyan.webs.com/
अंतरराष्ट्रीय पशु रक्षा संगठन के भारतीय प्रतिनिधि
Representative of the International Organization for Animal Protection in India,
http://www.oipa.org/oipa/news/oipaindia.html
Chairman, PFA Haryana http://www.pfaharyana.in/
+91-9813010595 , 9313312099
http://nareshkadyanbook.blogspot.com/
पशुओं के प्रति क्रूरता निवारणःनियम अधिनियम और सूचनाएँ

Report on the First World House Sparrow Day - Naresh Kadyan

There are various causes for dramatic decrease in their population, one of the more surprising being the introduction of unleaded petrol, the combustion of which produces compounds such as methyl nitrite, a compound which is highly toxic for small insects, which forms a major part of a young sparrow’s diet. Other being areas of free growing weeds, or reduction in number of badly maintained buildings, which are important nesting opportunities for sparrows. Ornithologists and wildlife experts speculate that the population crash could also be linked to a variety of factors like the lack of nesting sites in modern concrete buildings, disappearing kitchen gardens, increased use of pesticides in farmlands and the non- availability of food sources.