WHEN was the last time you saw a sparrow?
The little birds' ubiquitous chirping woke a generation of children. But the sparrows are now fast disappearing from the Indian city scapes, observes Mohammed Dilawar, an ornithologist (bird expert) from Bombay Natural History Society (BNHS).
The little chidiya (sparrow), the heroin of Indian folklore and a part of the civilisation, is stepping towards extinction due to receding tree covers, pollution and shrinking open space.
While tigers, pandas and other exotic animals hogged the attention of nature conservationists, the Indian sparrows remained neglected.
Untill Dilawar Mohammed decided to take up the sparrows' cause.
"Statistics indicate that the sparrow population has declined by almost 70 percent in certain places in India. At this rate, extinction isn't far away.
When any specie of birds or animals goes extinct, ecological balance is disturbed. We don't know in what ways it may affect the environment," warns Mohammed.
- Receding tree cover - reducing bushes and grass patches in cities and towns
- Modern building structures provide zero scope for nesting
- Shortage of insects (food for young sparrows due to insecticides and disinfectants.
- Lack of open muddy patches for the sparrows to bathe.
- Increase in the number of crows and pigeons - the sparrows fight a loosing battle for food and nesting with these birds.
- The criss-crossing cable wires and the flow of electromagnetic waves from cellphone towers injure the sparrows
To fight this decline, Mohammed Dilawar started the Box Initiative from Mumbai - putting up little wooden boxes on trees, which sparrows could use as nests.
Along with the boxes, Dilawar thought of putting little feeders - with grains, insects and water - nearby, to help the sparrows settle.
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