Universally familiar in appearance, the widespread and once
abundant house sparrow has become a mystery bird and is becoming
increasingly rare all over the world.
They are vanishing from many big cities, but are still not uncommon in
small towns and villages. India has seen a massive decline of sparrows
in recent years
March 20 was declared the World
House Sparrow Day.
Food
The house sparrow is an intelligent bird
that has proven to be adaptable to most situation, i.e. nest sites,
food and shelter, so it has become the most abundant songbird in the
world.
Sparrows are very social birds and tend
to flock together through most of the year. A flock’s range covers 1.5-2
miles, but it will cover a larger territory if necessary when searching
for food. The sparrow’s main diet consists of grain seeds, especially
waste grain and live stock feed. If grain is not available, its diet is
very broad and adaptable. It also eats weeds and insects, especially
during the breeding season. The parasitic nature of the house sparrow is
quite evident as they are avid seekers of garbage tossed out by humans.
In spring, flowers (especially those with yellow colours) are often
eaten crocuses, primroses and aconites seem to attract the house sparrow
most. The birds also hunt butterflies.
Housing
House
sparrows are generally attracted to buildings for roosting, nesting,
and cover. They look for any man-made nook or cranny to build their
nests. Other nesting sites are clothes line poles with the end caps
open, lofts, kitchen garden etc. The sparrow makes its home in areas
closely associated with human habitation.
Causes of Decline
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.
Help Bird
Sparrows are in trouble all
over the country, and they need our help! We should do everything we can
to make sure they get the right food and the proper nesting places.
1. Ban the Catapult CampaignWe all love Mother Nature and its bountiful gift of birds, animals and plants, which in the recent past has come under threat from all quarters. We should try to convince people to lobby for a ban on the use of catapults.
2. Feed the birds
Ideally, food should be provided all year round for
birds, but in winter and summer, birds need us more as their natural
food and water sources decrease.
During the rainy
season, keep the feeders in places where they will not come in contact
with water. Installing feeders near bushes reduces predation by birds
but provides a hiding place for cats.
3. Birds and waterWater is important to birds, both for drinking and for bathing. so it should be changed every day.
4. Hygiene
Hygiene is important. Clean up spilt grain and uneaten food; this will reduce the spread of disease.
5. Birds and salt
Most garden birds are poor at coping with salty food, it is important not to offer them anything with appreciable amount of salt in it. As such, salty fats, salty rice, salted peanuts, most cured foodstuffs, chips, etc. should not be offered to birds.
6. Native gardening
Avoid planting exotic varieties of plants in your garden use only native species of plants as they help in attracting birds and also attract native insects and pests which are an important source of food for birds and other native wildlife. Use native plants for hedges as they constitute an important part of the urban ecosystem.
IT IS NOW OR NEVER.
