A recent survey of house sparrows in rural Vellore district has suggested recolonisation by the species in two taluks in the district.
A total of 1,903 active nests and 6,452 house sparrows (Passer domesticus) were noticed in 153 villages in Arakkonam and Nemili taluks of Vellore district that were surveyed.
The survey by M. Pandian and S. Natarajan, attached to the Department of Plant Biology and Biotechnology in Guru Nanak College, here found that a total of 1,225 nests were found in the natural nesting sites such as crevices, holes in the walls, structures attached to walls, roofs and trees.
.“About 49.2% of nests were observed in concrete flat-terraced houses and over 23% of nests were in the tile-rooftop and thatched-rooftop houses,” said Mr. Pandian.
Pointing to 80.1% of active nests that were less than one year old, he said: “It indicates that the house sparrows increased considerably in the past few years in the study area.”
House sparrows prefer concrete houses increasingly, he said, adding that creating safe sites for nesting and awareness among the general public would go a long way in protecting house sparrows.
Among the factors that would have led to a drop in the figure in the past could have increasing number of power looms in the area.
“Hand looms have spaces which would be used by sparrows for nesting but power looms do not offer such space,” he said.
Changes in the architecture of houses, decreasing farm lands and cutting down of native trees were among the other reasons for lack of nesting sites.
“There are 3,022 power looms in 10 villages now replacing several hand looms,” he said.
Although tiled/thatched houses had gaps between the roof and the wall and provided for free movement of birds, the new-age constructions didn’t have them, he pointed out.
The change in the agricultural trend and shifting of traditional practices of cultivation of cereals/pulses to non-agricultural sectors also resulted in availability of grains to sparrows, he said.
While 43,576 hectares of lands were under cultivation during 1984-85, only 25,677 hectares were under cultivation in 2014-15, he said.
