House sparrow on verge of extinction

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House sparrow on verge of extinction

Vishal Gulati

Tribune News Service

CHANDIGARH: Cities of Punjab and Haryana are no longer a habitat of a house

sparrow. Its chirping is fading from the vicinity of human habitation.

A small plump brownish bird, which is a widely distributed species in most parts

of Europe and Asia, it is slowly disappearing from urban areas. Flocks of the

sparrow, which were a common sight till a few years ago, are now rarely seen.

Ornithologists attribute a number of reasons to this phenomenon. These include

lack of nesting sites, use of pesticides and non-availability of food. Even in

the UK the bird has undergone a drastic decline.

Lieut-Gen Baljit Singh (retd), a Chandigarh-based bird watcher, says since the

sparrow is closely associated with man, it is the man who is responsible for its

decline. He observes that the decline is due to lack of holes for nesting in

modern houses and cutting of hedges from gardens.

Earlier houses had a number of crevices and holes. This enabled the bird to make

nests. These days houses have little space for making nests.

Use of heavy doses of pesticides in kitchen gardens and fields results in the

decline of invertebrate fauna. Small insects play a very important role in the

survival of newborn sparrows. It is believed that with the decline in insect

numbers the survival rate of the newborns has come down.

Mr Suresh C. Sharma, a member of the Delhi Bird Club, blames the use of

chemically treated seeds by farmers for its decline. A sparrow feeds mainly on

seeds.

Similarly, the treated grains available in the market are also a slow poison for

the bird.

He says it is almost extinct in Bangalore. In Himachal Pradesh and the rural

areas of Haryana, a good number of sparrows can be spotted.

“We lace their food with liberal doses of pesticides,” says Mr S.K. Sharma,

president, Environment Society of India, Chandigarh. The pesticides are used for

preserving the grains.

Reduced spillage of grains, improved storage, decline in the practice of feeding

sparrows, increased predation by owls and cats and competition for food by other

species, including pigeons, are threatening the existence of sparrows.

 

http://www.tribuneindia.com/2005/20050920/cth1.htm#11

 

 

 

Dr.Sandeep K.Jain

 

 

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