Modern Life and Old Enemies (Cats and Crows) Reduce Sparrow Populations

Song of the sparrow
Mar 20, 2012:
CONSERVATION
The World Sparrow Day, being observed today, reminds us of the need to welcome sparrows back into our cities. There are many reasons for the disappearance of this tiny bird, including a change in farming practices, architecture and lifestyles, writes Antony P U
The house sparrow (Passer domesticus) has become a rarity over the years due to various reasons. Noisy and gregarious, this cheerful exploiter of man’s wastefulness is a Red List species today. Human-altered habitats, particularly farm areas, are preferred by them. House sparrows are granivorous and 96 per cent of the adult diet is made up of livestock feed, plant materials like grain, fruit, seeds, and garden plants. G arbage, bread crumbs and refuse from fast-food restaurants can support sparrow populations in urban habitats. The current worldwide distribution of this bird is a result of this commensal relationship of it with humans.

As agriculture and human civilisations expanded, house sparrows experienced a correlated and massive expansion in range and numbers. Due to their abundance, ease to raise and general lack of fear towards humans, the house sparrow has proved to be an excellent model for many avian biological studies. To date, there have been nearly 5,000 scientific papers published with the house sparrow as the study species.

They are persistent and fairly intelligent. House sparrows are aggressive and social, both of which increases their ability to compete with most native birds. Sparrows do not migrate. While house sparrows are tolerant of disturbance by humans, they can in no way be considered tame. Their success lies in their ability to exploit new habitats, particularly those influenced by humans.

Falling numbers

House sparrow numbers have fallen significantly since they peaked in the 1920s, when food and wastes from horses furnished an unlimited supply of food. One question of considerable interest concerns the catastrophic house sparrow population declines in several urban centres of the world.

Possible reasons proposed are changing agricultural practices such as a shift to monoculture crop plantings and sealing grain stores to reducing access and spillage, increased pollution, use of herbicides/pesticides and its impact on food sources. There are various other causes for dramatic decrease in their population, one of the more surprising being the introduction of unleaded petrol.

Denis Summers-Smith who is recognised as a world expert on sparrows presumes that the unleaded fuel, believed to be eco-friendly, had harmful byproducts. The fuel uses Methyl Tertiary Butyl Ether (MTBE) as an anti-knocking agent. Along with byproducts of combustion, this kills small insects. The insecticidal nature of the byproducts makes the food for those birds feeding on insects scarce. Though adult sparrows can survive without insects in their diet, they need them to feed their young. With fewer insects to feed on, the infant mortality rates of sparrows went up.

Reduction in areas of free growing weeds or a drop in the number of badly-maintained buildings, which are important nesting opportunities for sparrows, have also contributed to the disappearance of the bird. The widespread use of chemical pesticides in farmlands has resulted in the killing of insects on which these birds depend. Seed-eating birds like sparrows have to depend on soft-bodied insects to feed their young ones.

Predation by crows and cats

The other possibility could be increased predation by crows and cats. Crows have grown in number as a result of garbage accumulation in the city. Changing lifestyles and architectural evolution have wreaked havoc on the bird’s habitat and food sources. Modern buildings are devoid of cozy nesting sites for sparrows like ventilators, eaves and crannies. This, coupled with disappearing home gardens, are playing a part in the sparrow’s disappearing act.

My casual observations in selected areas of Bangalore to correlate the abundance of the bird with architecture of the buildings, commercial activities going on, human population and their lifestyle, etc convey that sparrows are not totally extinct from Bangalore, but there are still areas where significant populations of this bird exists. Some such areas that I came across in the southern and eastern parts of Bangalore are the Rajendra Nagar slum in Koramangala, Anjaneya Temple Street and AR Colony in Adugodi, S G Palaya, Ejipura, New Tippasandra in Indira Nagar, wholesale fruit market in Huskur, etc.
A moderate number was observed in churches like Infant Jesus Church in Vivek Nagar and St. Mary’s Basilica in Shivajinagar. They were active even in the vicinity of various small old temples buildings in Adugodi and Ejipura. It is very interesting to note that sparrows are mostly the companions of poor and middle income groups in slums and old villages within the city where people have still retained their thatched houses and their old lifestyles and food habits. Shops and other establishments like flour mills, grocery shops, where they store grains in open bags, etc, invite more sparrows in slums and villages. Even the old-styled electric poles with all the wires strewn out haphazardly form ideal roosting places for the birds here.

Architecture makes a difference

Not even a single sparrow was noticed in any of the posh, planned residential layouts like Koramangala, Jayanagar, BTM Layout, Indira Nagar, etc. or even in the outskirts of Bangalore with organised apartments. Living in close proximity with humans, sparrows used to build their nests below tiled roofs. With contemporary architecture making a clean sweep in Bangalore, tiled roofs have become a thing of the past, and sparrows have lost many a nesting spot. Also, the birds were used to pecking at grain in the backyards of homes where people cleaned paddy or wheat. Grain spills outside godowns or provision stores drew a lot of sparrows twittering over them. But now, with backyard cleaning virtually extinct, and polythene packaging taking over from gunny bags, there are no handy spills, and neither are there twitters.

In recent times, sparrows are not the only birds that have moved out from cities. In Bangalore, one used to see a lot of warblers, barbets, bee-eaters, kingfishers, golden orioles and sun birds. Today, most of them have given way to scavenger birds like crows, mynahs and kites which feed on the large amount of garbage generated in the City. Our smoky and unfriendly cities may be forcing birds to take wing and head elsewhere. The challenge is to arrest that and to bring back some of these little winged beauties that were common not so long ago. This requires giving up on luxurious lifestyles that allow harmonious living with other species. The World Sparrow Day reminds us of this need.

Conference on Sparrows told some areas are too warm for Sparrow life

As an increase in the number of malls and apartments has resulted in limited space for building nests, house sparrows have begun to fly away from the city.

Speaking at a conference on house sparrows at St Joseph’s Arts and Science College, Dr Rajshekhar, who has studied sparrows in the city, said: “Sparrows survive in areas where there are enough food sources like markets and old buildings with slope roofs or tiles or shades as well as in cool places which are not very high. As the city has started expanding, sparrows have lost their habitat and have moved to outskirts and villages.”

Though urbanisation has not affected sparrows in cities like Mumbai, it has clearly made an impact on them in Bangalore. “We did not keep statistics of sparrows as we did not expect an exponential decline in their number,” TV Ramachandra from Centre for Sustainable Technologies, Indian Institute of Science, said.

“Sparrows are known to live close to human habitats. Earlier, people used to throw grains of rice or cow peas which have a lot of protein; this attracted sparrows. Now, nobody does it. The city has become a concrete jungle with barely any space for sparrows,” he said.

“They like to live in areas not more than six meters. With high-rise apartments mushrooming, such areas are limited. Also, high rise buildings have glass surfaces which are not conducive for the sparrows’ survival. The temperature in the city too has increased, leading to the decline in their population,”  he concluded.

Film, Radio and Online Efforts to Save the Sparrow in India

The Hindu : Spare a thought for the sparrow

What's happened to house sparrows? World Sparrow Day, observed on March 20, tries to make people aware of the importance of sparrows in our environment. A few environmentalists talk about these birds that were once a common sight in our cities

They were once a common sight, these little birds that are so intrinsic a part of our larger existence. But we began to take them for granted and ceased to take notice of them. Today most of us would be hard pressed to spot the humble house sparrow, known as ‘angadikuruvi' / ‘arikkilli' / ‘annakilli' / ‘veethukilli' in local parlance, and we need something like World Sparrow Day, observed on March 20 every year since 2010, to remind us of our close connection to the one bird that has, over centuries, successfully adapted itself to human life.

“Perhaps it's because we are all so enamoured by the exotic that we cease to notice the wealth of flora and fauna in our own backyard,” muses wildlife photographer Balan Madhavan. Environmental filmmaker Suresh Elamon adds: “Once upon a time, nests of house sparrows were to be found in almost every household as well as in public places such as markets (hence the name angadikuruvi), bus bays, and railway stations where they lived in colonies and survived on food grains, insects, and worms. In fact, they live wherever humans live and in such close quarters to us too. In my younger days, I remember seeing hordes of them fluttering around Chalai market. House sparrows nowadays are not an endangered species, but in all probability they are facing a crisis of survival in what was once their natural range.”

REASONS FOR THE DECLINE

The reasons for the decline of the house sparrow (Passer domesticus indicus) are many, say the experts. “The exact reason cannot actually be pinpointed. Studies show that it may be because of the destruction of its habitat, what with increasing urbanisation and the supermarket culture taking over local markets, lack of insects that are vital for it's young, and even electromagnetic pollution from mobile phone towers that harm its reproductive cycle,” explains Suresh.

Creating awareness about these birds seems to be the key to their survival. “That is why a ‘World Sparrow Day' is important. It is a step in the right direction,” says Biju Mathew, a city-based programming executive with All India Radio, Ananthapuri FM, who won the prestigious Asia-Pacific Broadcasting Union's prize for 2011 for the radio documentary Oru Kunjattakuruviyude Aathma Kadha (An Autobiography of a Sparrow) written and produced by him. It is a first person account of a sparrow that has built a nest on the terrace of a house, speaking to the young girl of the house about its life and the problems its kind faces in the world.

“Children sometimes call the sparrow Kunjattakuruvi. In the documentary we have touched upon a range of subjects including habitat destruction, food insecurity, and even incidents such as the ‘Kill a sparrow campaign' during Mao Zedong's rule in China. People, especially children, should be made aware of the importance of the sparrow,” says Biju.

There is however another side to the story. Some birders and experts are divided on whether there is actually a decline in sparrow population. “This is because there has never been any proper scientific database of these birds; never in Kerala, at least. We are more or less going by the frequency of sightings when we talk about the so-called decline. In fact, sparrows have been sighted building nests on mobile phone towers! Perhaps the only recent data is that which is mentioned in Birds of Kerala: Status and Distribution, published by DC Books,” says Dileep K.G., Head of the Department of Sociology, Kalady Sankaracharya University, and president of the Cochin Natural History Society, an NGO for bird conservation.

MONITORING SPARROWS

The society has been running an online sparrow monitoring project since 2010 (birding enthusiasts can record sightings on an online Excel spreadsheet). The Nature Forever Society based in Pune too is running a similar programme – Common Bird Monitoring of India (on its website http://www.cbmi.in.). There are also some measures put in place by other societies such as Kottayam Nature Society to monitor sparrows, while organisations like the city-based Writers and Nature Lovers Forum have installed around 25 nests in Palayam market, which was once a hub for these chirpy birds.

One at a time

As always, individual efforts count the most, and all it takes is a pot with a small hole that is hung somewhere outside to get sparrows to come calling. Beena Menon, a Kochi-based bank employee and birding enthusiast, put up three nests on the balcony of her apartment at Thammanam, a couple of years ago. Today she has over 10 sparrows that visit her nests. “Sparrows, I've noticed, are very territorial. I ensure that the holes in the nests are just big enough for a sparrow to enter. Otherwise the magpie robin will usurp the space! All I do is put out some feed – thena (a sort of seed) and a trough of water. And voila! I wake up to birdsong everyday!” says Beena.

Nature Forever Society Helps People Conserve Sparows

Nature Forever Society helps people conserve sparrows
By Rama Menon
07 Mar 2012


On March 20, when World Sparrow Day is celebrated, Nashik-based environmentalist Mohammed Dilawar can tell himself: ‘Well, I have done it’. For, his Nature Forever Society has succeeded in raising awareness among the common man from every nook and corner of the country on the need to conserve sparrows.

It has been few years now since Dilawar realized the importance of including the common man in sparrow conservation given the fact that sparrows are not found in the wilderness but live in homes and the immediate surroundings of humans.


Mohammed Dilawar's efforts to save the sparrows is showing encouraging results
The new urban architecture that is not bird-friendly, the mushrooming microwave towers, chemical pesticides and fertilizers, and the introduction of exotic plants in gardens, have all taken a toll on these hapless creatures. Once ubiquitous, they are now found in select pockets.

However, it is too early to lose hope. There are still some people who want to desperately invite the sparrows into their homes. The feeders and nest boxes made by Nature Forever Society (NFS) have come in handy for bird lovers.

My fourth floor apartment in Hyderabad boasts of five nests - two NFS nests, two natural nests and one Nike shoe box-turned nest. The millets (bajra) in the feeder has to be replenished every two weeks!

Subha Nair's 12th floor apartment in Malad, Mumbai, is testimony to the success of the nest box. She has a pair of sparrows nesting in the NFS nest box.

Vijayta Gupta has birds of all kinds flocking to her home in Gurgaon, including peacocks, parakeets, mynahs, and of course sparrows. She says, "I feed so many species in my balcony,” adding, “but my neighbours are particularly unhappy with squirrels because they feel -the once-slim and sleek squirrels now look like fat rats!"


Oan Dilawar of NFS adds, "may be your neighbours are not aware of the beautiful species residing in and around their homes. But it feels great to know that you are there to support all species right from a squirrel to a peacock."

The water-bath in Dushyant Parasher's Noida home invites not just birds but also squirrels. And they all live in peaceful co-existence!

Karthik Vallioor is not so lucky though. He says, "Chennai seems to have lost its sparrows. I installed my nest almost 3 months ago, but haven’t yet spotted any sparrows.”

"I had not seen a sparrow for a long time but surprisingly saw a lot of them at the Bangalore Airport and that too in the crowded restaurant. They were happily pecking at the leftover food in the floor and table," says D. Madan Mohan of Coimbatore.


At Nin Taneja's New Delhi home, bulbuls come and check out the feeder he has installed. He says there are squirrels and sometimes mynahs and doves, and Nin is still hoping that sparrows will come calling some day.

Pushpa Anand says her Dallas, Texas home has plenty of sparrow visitors. The rangoli (kolam) drawn with rice flour attracts scores of sparrows and she is always worried what will happen to them when she is out of town.

David Bale of the UK sums up the sentiments of sparrow lovers, "Thanks to Mohammed Dilawar and the Nature Forever Society for opening my eyes to the worldwide problem of declining sparrow populations.

“I feel most people in the UK think it's a problem only in London or only in some of UK's large cities. I work as a volunteer warden at Paxton Pits Nature Reserve in rural Cambridgeshire, 60 miles north of London. Two years ago we re-sited the feeding table at our Visitors Centre and since then we have had an increasing number of house sparrows visiting the centre."

Dilawar says he feels the happiest when he receives feedback from people about the sparrow visits to their homes. He rightly believes that it is difficult to convince people to save the tiger when they are unable to do anything to save the flora and fauna in their immediate surroundings.

Saving the sparrow could be just the right beginning to a more vibrant wildlife protection movement. To adopt a nest box or a feeder from NFS, you can check out: http://natureforever.org

World Sparrow Day, 20 March 2012, What you can do!

WORLD SPARROW DAY....20 MARCH 2012: What you can do!

from The Hindu, 5 March 2012

Adopt a Sparrow Nestbox from www.natureforever.org

Concerned over the dwindling population of house sparrows, those diminutive birds that first connected you to nature as a child and left a lasting impression?

Then join the global campaign to attract sparrows back to your home by creating a little space for them. Tweaking the earlier themes slightly, World Sparrow Day (March 20) organisations involved in the conservation of house sparrows are coming together to work for “House the sparrow” this year.

Mohammed Dilawar of the Nature Forever Society that has been in the forefront of conserving house sparrows across the country said, “This year, we want people to throw open their homes, welcome and make sparrows part of their families.”

“We do not intend to make it just a one-day event to raise public awareness about the decline of the house sparrow and throw light on the problems faced by the species in its daily fight for survival, but inspire people to take concrete steps.”

These include adopting a nest box, a feeder and providing food and clean drinking water every day. “By adopting a nest box (for details click www.natureforever.org) you are giving sparrows a home and helping them start their own family. As it has increasingly become difficult to find food and water, the next step should be to provide them. Grains such as broken rice or bajra can be filled into the scientifically designed feeders that can be hung in balconies or windows. If this is done continuously, our experience shows the return of sparrows back to localities that they were deserted earlier.”

Such sustained efforts are required to save the sparrows considering the pace of degradation of their immediate environment. “While significant attention has been paid by experts as well as the government to conserve endangered and exotic wildlife species like the tigers and elephants, common animals, birds and plants face a bleak future due to general neglect and oversight. A case in point is the Indian vulture, once widespread species that is now on the brink of extinction.”

The reasons for the house sparrows' slow but noticeable disappearance has been labelled as one of the biggest mysteries of recent times, he said. A leading newspaper in the United Kingdom - a country that has witnessed one of the biggest declines of the house sparrow population in recent times - declared a cash prize to anyone who could solve the mystery. Needless to say, the reward remains unclaimed, he added.

Indian Temple Town Sets Up Sparrow City

Sparrows find refuge in Indian temple town
News Date: 20th February 2012


Sonepur is the first district in India to conserve house sparrows. People here began a drive Sunday to conserve the bird species, which is on the verge of extinction.

The venture to save the dwindling population of house sparrows is jointly taken up by the district administration and the department of forest and environment.

Around 100 artificial nests specially modeled for nesting of house sparrows have been installed on the roof of the Gundicha temple, which is a hub of house sparrows. Some nests were distributed among the local residents who showed interest in the conservation drive. An awareness meeting on the conservation of house sparrows was also held.

Sonepur, also known as Subarnapur, is a town and district headquarters of Subarnapur district of Orissa, eastern India.

Sushil Tripathy, Sonepur forest range officer and coordinator of the drive, said conservationists worldwide were concerned about the dwindling population of house sparrows. "The dwindling population of house sparrows is of global concern and several campaigns and drives are being taken up to save these birds. Sonepur is the first district in the country where an official initiative has been made to conserve house sparrows. There are instances of individual efforts in Berhampur and Keonjhar, but this is the first official initiative," Tripathy said.

He added that two environmentalists who worked for conservation of house sparrows in Berhampur had surveyed the population of house sparrows in the district. "They found that there were no signs of the birds except in a few villages. In Sonepur, the birds were found in very few numbers. They had prescribed the model nest, which would serve as the habitat of these birds. Around 100 terracotta nests were built for the nesting. Some more were distributed among the local residents to use in their homes," he said.

Tripathy said the administration was planning to take the initiative to other parts of the district soon. "We will select seven villages from each blocks of Sonepur where there is a population of the bird. Soon we will involve them in the drive by providing them with the required number of artificial nests. This will pay off in the long run," he said.

According to environmentalist Ghasiram Panda, the dwindling population of the bird is because of the loss of their natural habitat.

"If we can provide them with an alternative habitat, their population may grow. In this respect, it is a unique and innovative idea to provide them with artificial nests, which have all the facilities of nesting. It is important to save these birds from extinction", Panda said.


Source: GNA

India: House Sparrows set up homes in SACON free nests

Sparrows flock to nests placed at homes in Ganapathy Ma Nagar

COIMBATORE: V Shanmugham and his family don't require an alarm to wake up. Each morning, they are woken up by the chirping sparrows that nest in their house.

A few months ago, Shanmugham, a regional manager in a private company, was given a nest and sparrow food by students of Salim Ali Center for Ornithology and Natural Sciences and Young Indians.

These students were conducting an experiment in Ganapathy Ma Nagar to strengthen the sparrow population, which is fast dwindling.

Shanmugham noticed a pair of sparrows nested inside a lamp cover in his garden. The students encouraged him to place the nest closer to his house.

"I am happy to help in this cause," he said.

Within a few days, he noticed a pair of sparrows in the next.

He added another nest, inviting more sparrows.

Now he has five to six sparrows that have made their nest in his home.

P Gnanasekaran, another resident of Ma Nagar said the more nests he put up at home, more sparrows set up home there.

Joseph Reginald, research scholar at SACON involved in the project said that ever since the project was initiated there is considerable increase in the sparrow population in the area.

"During our study, we found 15 locations where sparrows thrive. Ganpathy Ma Nagar and Walayar were selected for this project which started in August, with 90 nests placed in various areas. At least 300 sparrows were identified in Ganapathy Ma Nagar, which is the highest congregation in the city. About 70% of the nests placed in other areas have been occupied by the birds, indicating that nesting has helped improve breeding potential in the region," said Reginald.

Rapid urbanisation and increasing pollution is spelling doom for the small sparrow, which was earlier found in large numbers in the city. "Sparrows have been dwindling mainly due to lack of food and nesting sites. Modern buildings do not provide crevices and nooks for them to nest. Also, sparrow fledglings feed exclusively on insects for the first 15 days," he said.

The insect population is on the decline due to lack of native plants and other vegetation in urban areas, he added. Conservation in India is happening in isolation. There is a need to involve the common man. "Distributing bird feeders will directly leave conservation efforts in the hands of the people," Reginald added.

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SparrowSquad notes this is the second free nest project that has been successful in India. People in other countries, cities and towns may want to try providing nests to encourage the House Sparrow to live where they live. Meanwhile, congratulations to SACON, to its dedicated students and to the people who responded so positively to the project.