People who lived in Bangalore through the 70s and 80s would definitely remember having scores of sparrows visit their homes, to pick the broken rice which fell out of the sieve, when it was cleaned everyday for lunch. They came chirruping and squabbling among themselves, along with the gentle doves who also appeared to feast on the grain.
The house sparrow is called Passer domesticus — domesticus is Latin for belonging to the house. The bird was named so because of its penchant for living in and around human habitats. Sparrows were considered pests across the world, and in China, from 1958 to 1962 four pests — rats, flies, mosquitoes and sparrows were actively removed, according to a book written by H.S. Sudhira and K.S. Gururaja, published by Gubbi Labs.
We miss the presence of the little bird and asked two scientists, why the sparrow is not making a comeback in our city.
Seshadri K.S., a PhD candidate, Department of Biological Sciences, National University of Singapore, who is from Bangalore says, “Perhaps the two main reasons for sparrows leaving the city are the consequences of urbanisation itself. Sparrows, unlike tailor birds or wren warblers are grani-vores — meaning they feed on grains. How commonly do we see grain being spilled around on the streets like the old days? Now everything comes in a nice sealed plastic bag, purchased from a sterile shopping mart and brought to the house and transferred into a container. How common is the sight of our older generation sitting in the porch sifting rice for the husk and sparrows coming down to peck at the thrown away grains? I have not seen this happen in a decade at least.”
According to him, the other reason for the loss of sparrows is the lack of nesting spaces. They would nest in ledges under wooden beams of houses and godowns. Now, everything is concrete. No such thing as a ledge for sparrows to build nests.
Krishna M.B., an ornithologist, says, “Other species have been affected too, as much as the sparrow. Sparrows might not be back because the habitat has changed and there are no contiguous suitable habitats remaining. Also, sparrows are parochial and may not cross large areas of unsuitable habitat.”
However Deepa Mohan, an avid birder, feels differently. “I think the sparrow is making a comeback in Russell Market, K.R. Market and many other suburbs of Bangalore, where one can find them in plenty. Perhaps, due to our changing styles of architecture (we no longer have ventilators under the roof where they can build nests) and the lack of grain lying around, they are not as ubiquitous as they were.”
However it is clear, the bird is not as visible any more like in the Bangalore of the 80s.
