“We would wake up in the morning to the sweet chirping orchestra of the sparrows,” said grandpa. “But sadly, they have vanished completely from our Neelakodi. Lack of nesting spaces and food and people not bothering to make a safe space for the birds have driven them away.” Sunil, who had seen pictures of sparrows only in his science textbook, decided on his mission: to bring the sparrows back to his garden in Neelakodi.
With his grandfather’s help, he mounted a birdhouse on a wooden pole and placed it in the garden along with a bird bath. He put out seeds and millets regularly in the feeder and hung it on the mango tree’s branch. Months passed, but no sparrows came.
At the farm
One day, when Sunil returned from school, his grandfather had some news. He had read in a newspaper that sparrows have been spotted in a town that was a two-hour drive from their home. On Saturday, the two of them set off. They stopped near an agricultural field for Sunil to enjoy the sight of sparrows fluttering around. The owner of the field welcomed them and took them to his house. Dozens of sparrows were chirping in the garden. Sunil opened his backpack and scattered seeds on the ground. The sparrows flocked to feast. “I distributed nest boxes and seeds to my neighbours and, now, you can see sparrows in every house in our street,” said Ramesh.
As they drove back home, Sunil reached for his backpack in the backseat of the car. He heard a chirping sound. Surprised, he looked inside the bag and gently retrieved a sparrow. “You have got a stowaway,” chuckled grandpa.
“I did not close my bag after I took out the seeds. This one must have been attracted by the seeds and entered my backpack,” said Sunil.
Sunil’s parents and grandma came to see the sparrow and his father gently placed the sparrow inside the birdhouse in their garden. However, the next morning, the bird was nowhere to be seen. “It must have flown back to its family,” said Sunil sadly.
A few days later, Sunil found three sparrows relaxing in the bird bath and two others comfortably settled inside the birdhouse. He now hung a few nest boxes on the trees. His neighbours and friends came to see the sparrows and also became interested in putting out nest boxes and the feed for sparrows in their homes as well. Now everyone calls Sunil, “the boy who brought back the sparrows to Neelakodi”.
