“The pair is extremely adorable. Each time I see them flying into my balcony I feel happy,” says Caron Judy, Professor of Commerce at The American College, of the house sparrows that have nested in her house at Sangeet Nagar, Vilangudi. Her effort of putting a carton box high up the ceiling has borne fruit. “We have got two generations of house sparrows in that nest so far. The earlier pair was different from the current one,” says Caron, who has sacrificed the little luxury of using the balcony so as not to disturb the birds.
There are half-a-dozen such households in Sangeet Nagar that have successfully attracted sparrows. Says M.Rajesh, Professor of Zoology at The American College, “the population of sparrows can be enhanced through such small efforts on a regular basis.”
Two years ago, Rajesh had taken the initiative of distributing nesting boxes free of cost. He was alarmed by the news of disappearing sparrows and procured 500 carton boxes meant for attracting sparrow nesting from Mahiru Foundation, an NGO working for the cause in Junagadh, Gujarat.
The boxes with a small hole for the bird to enter were placed at areas where sparrows still existed. Roping in students, Rajesh conducted a study and shortlisted P&T Nagar, Vilangudi, Sellur, certain pockets behind Bypass Road, Usilampatti and Melur as potential locations. “Melur and Sellur have given us good results, as the people living there showed much interest too,” he says. Sellur, though right in the heart of the city, has many tiled-roof houses which the birds prefer for nesting. Concretisation of the city is responsible for the decline in sparrows. “In olden days, we had open courtyards, ventilators and high-ceiling windows for the birds to easily find access into the house. In modern constructions, sparrows don’t find crevices or holes to nest,” he notes.
A study conducted by Balaji, a research scholar at Ayya Nadar Janaki Ammal College, Sivakasi, concluded that sparrows prefer artificial nests more. “Sparrow is a bird that lives around human habitations. They are dependent on human practices. They don’t build a nest on trees like other birds. They choose safe secure corners, lofts and boxes,” says Balaji. A sparrow’s diet includes dry seeds or millets and grains like rice or wheat. “Earlier, the women used to dry grains on the terrace and draw maakolam (kolam with rice flour) on the doorsteps and the sparrows found their food there.”
Vivekananda College in Sholavandan is the only campus where sparrows were sighted during the Campus Bird Count conducted last month by Madurai Nature Forum. It is an ongoing exercise and has been carried out in 10 other colleges too but Vivekananda College by virtue of being surrounded by paddy fields and hutments attracts a good number of sparrows. Rajesh points out since colleges close in the evening, the birds do not find easy access to nest indoors.
In 2013, Arunn Narasimhan, Associate Professor, IIT- Madras, challenged the popular notion that mobile-tower radiation is the main cause for dwindling sparrow population. But, points out Rajesh, “scientists and bird lovers now put the blame on pesticides in fields.” “House sparrows feed their young ones with small worms and insects as they need protein to grow and when they pick up dead worms, they end up consuming the harmful chemicals,” he adds.
Rajesh says that maintaining a small green patch in the house can go a long way in attracting birds. “Since garden is a source of insects, sparrows will naturally choose a house with plants,” he says. He adds that sparrows are intelligent birds that watch and inspect nesting places over a period of time and only after ensuring safety, they occupy the nest.
Sparrow facts:
Even a shoe box can be used as a sparrow nest. You need not provide nesting materials such as cotton or hay or food.
Sparrows avoid nesting in houses that have pets such as dogs or cats.
Hang or paste the nest at least 15 feet above the ground, in a safe sheltered corner of the house that doesn’t get exposed to sun or rain.
Sparrows live as pairs and both the male and female take part in incubation and hatching of the eggs
In one breeding season, a sparrow lays five to six eggs on an average. The chicks take 15 days to grow into an adult bird
There are 24 sparrow species of which the House sparrow is the only one found in India.
House sparrow is the state bird of Delhi
