15 December 2012

Decline of Sparrows - Much hyped and to be concerned issue



Sparrows - A small passerine(denoting birds of large order, it also includes all song birds in this group) bird which is also called as House sparrows, True sparrows..  Native of this birds are Asia, Europe & Africa.. But they were found almost everywhere in the world..But surprisingly their population has seen a sharp decline in the past few years..There are many reasons for this decline..After many researches the exact reason is yet to be found..




Causes for the vanishing sparrows :


Let us know about some featured reasons :

                         ~ Radiations from mobile & television towers.

                         ~ Inadequate food.

                         ~ No sufficient place to build their nest.

                         ~ Rapid urbanization and industrialization.

                         ~ Few green cover i.e. lack of trees.
                     
                         ~ Birds poaching - is one of the reasons that has to be taken on a deep note.

                         ~ A new research has found noise pollution as one of the cause for this decline.


             Of all these, inadequate food and insufficient place to build nest were commonly debated on. As of the new research, the modern houses and buildings without holes or rooftop shelves made hard for these small chirping birds to build their nests.. As noise pollution plays spoilsport for these birds, it has been said by the researchers that parent bird couldn't hear its younger one calling for food. They found that birds living in a quiet place are fed more than that reside over a noisy area.. Another cause is that the emission of carbon-mono-oxide from vehicles affect these birds badly..


Recovering steps to get these sweet chirping sparrows back :

               On a keen willingness to witness these birds again, with sufficient food grains and proper surroundings, it is possible to bring them back.. First step is that we must make sure to grow some plants and trees in our garden or in some social areas like schools, private or public concerns.. Then providing some wooden nest boxes near trees or in a terrace could ensure a place for the House sparrows to live in.. You can also spread some grains on the terrace and provide a bowl of water to invite these small visitors.. Keeping some water in your terrace for birds will be most valuable during summer seasons..






     






Images Courtesy : Internet
               You can also have some hanging pots filled with food grains in your veranda or balcony to feed birds.. The main advantage of having a hanging pot is that it makes sure that birds are safe from cats or dogs that would often hurt them when have their food in the ground.. Apart from this, as birds always love to swing and sit at higher places, hanging pots would invite them with joy..


           By bringing all these measures in effective action we can not only get these small sparrows back, but also we can get back the diminishing mynas and many other birds.. By maintaining the lakes, estuaries and wetlands in a city, we can get back the birds of their habitats..

 Madras Naturalist Society ( MNS ), a non-profit organisation based in Chennai.. It is maintained by a group of nature lovers who are involved in many activities on birds and several other activities related to nature.

I would like to share some of the MNS activities related to sparrows here.Have a look on the following articles which depicts the ways to get back the sparrows..



             >   http://www.thehindu.com/news/cities/

World's Sparrow Day is celebrated across the globe on 20th of March every year to create a public awareness about the decline of sparrows. The main theme of the World Sparrow Day that has been said in their website worldsparrowday.org  is  
                 "CHIRP FOR THE SPARROW ! TWEET FOR THE SPARROW "
As many bird lovers are doing their part in such issues, people are less aware about that.. Let us take  it to limelight to save these small birds..

Thanks for reading.. Do share about this to your people around...                

7 comments:

  1. pls save those species :( .....

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    1. Ya sure, will do my part in it..You too try your part in spreading awareness :)

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  2. Fortunately we have plenty of them chirping around!

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    Replies
    1. That's a good sign :) Hoping that we too witness them soon..

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  3. It's strange that though they have disappeared from one place, they are found in abundance in certain other places. Last time while I was travelling from Goa to Chennai, we had a stopover in Bangalore and imagine my delight when I saw several sparrows in the Cafe Coffee Day space. The sparrows were frolicking and picking up the bits and pieces of food from the tables, chairs and the ground.

    It's a joy to watch sparrows.

    Joy always,
    Susan

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  4. Nice to know that they are existing in abundance at Bangalore and some other places in India.Yep,I heard that within Mumbai circle, sparrows were in abundance at one place and are declining at other places. I wish we should take some necessary steps in maintaining them where they are in abundance and to arrange a suitable environment at the places were they have disappeared.
    Thanks for your comment Susan :)

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  5. Yes! Finally something about birds.

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