The sparrow can still fly home to us

TIMES EVOKE

The sparrow can still fly home to us

20.03.2021 

March 20th is World Sparrow Day. But, as the little bird vanishes alarmingly across the world, Diwakar Sharma of WWF India writes in Times Evoke about why the sparrow is becoming so rare — and how we can still save it:

Born in Delhi, I remember a time when house sparrows were a part of every childhood. During March and April, their chirping sounds would fill our homes as they fed on wheat grains being cleaned in courtyards or hopped cheerfully across windowsills. March-April being breeding season for these sparrows, it was common to see them building their little nests in our homes — indeed, it was a thrill to carefully place a toppled-over chick back in its nest, despite dire warnings by our parents that the grown sparrows wouldn’t accept chicks which had been touched by human hands (they usually did; the warnings aimed to stop fascinated children from disturbing these nests).

Then too, in the 1970s and ’80s, Delhi was expanding but there were still patches of natural grasslands that provided a habitat for these birds. Twenty years later, I found sparrows were visible in the city but in much smaller numbers. I was lucky enough to see sparrows nesting in my house windows in the early 2000s. But this lasted only two years and the sparrows didn’t return thereafter.

It is tragic that a species so strongly associated with human habitation, which partly evolved with us and can live in urban or rural settings, is now suffering because of human activities. The house sparrow became associated with humans 10,000 years ago, often following us as we moved to new locales. A ubiquitous companion, the sparrow wasn’t always welcome.

In China, in the 1950s, sparrows were declared pests due to their feeding on crops and were destroyed in huge numbers. Later, it was discovered that sparrows had been controlling the insects that then damaged the crops and caused widespread famines.

But sparrow populations have been consistently declining in different parts of the world. In London, sparrows have almost disappeared, their absence linked with industrialisation growing from the mid-19th century. As locomotives replaced horse carts, the little sparrow lost its share of the grain which spilled from these carts when the horses fed. Research now shows a 55% decline in sparrow populations in Europe, 58% in rural Britain and 95% in London. In India, the ‘eBird’ survey shows house sparrow populations have declined by 45% across six metros. Natural causes like predation and avian malaria have contributed — but human-induced factors have had far greater impact. These include radiation from mobile phones and towers, a shortage of nesting sites caused by changing urban building design and a dwindling supply of insects due to the loss of grasslands, monoculture cropping and the heavy use of pesticides. A recent study indicates that the emission of toxic compounds like methyl nitrite from unleaded petrol could also have affected sparrow populations.

In many countries, this little bird, facing multiple existential challenges, has been categorised as threatened. As part of global efforts to save it, World Sparrow Day was announced on 20th March and in 2012, the house sparrow was declared Delhi’s state bird. But we need more than nominations and labels to bring sparrows back. A lot is still possible — we can provide safe nesting places for sparrows by placing artificial nest boxes around homes. We can also improve our knowledge of the habitat these birds need. Currently, due to a belief that only woodlands fight climate change, afforestation drives eat away grassy stretches. But the house sparrow doesn’t inhabit woodlands, which consist of dense trees. It is a creature of grasslands, large swathes of grasses and shrubs. Afforestation therefore must only be undertaken in areas that had forests to begin with. In other locations, grassland management should be adopted to preserve the natural ecosystem.

Any change in the health of an ecosystem reflects in changes in its biodiversity — the decline of the sparrow indicates that the health of Delhi’s environment is deteriorating. This is a warning bell for Covid-19 has shown that environmental well-being and human health are intricately linked. We need to do more to protect nature. There is reason to hope too — sparrows have been sighted recently in outer Delhi, across Dwarka and Najafgarh. A possible reason could be a change in the numbers of mobile towers. But sparrows still face challenges like urban construction edging them out. We need to solve these issues with a focus that lasts beyond World Sparrow Day, to every day which can be brightened by the chirping of this energetic little bird.

Times Evoke presents a unique space for readers to express their thoughts on the environment. Write in to: timesevoke@timesgroup.com