When did you last see a sparrow? It is a question asked by many bird enthusiasts in the city, and signals a decline in the sparrow population.
Once spread across Bengaluru, sparrow flocks are hard to find today, confined to a few pockets of the city where they struggle to adapt to the changing urban environment. Sparrows are rightly called ‘indicator species’ because their presence is indicative of the state of the environment. Some bird experts believe that in the last one decade, the advent of technology such as internet and mobile networks has affected the reproduction pattern of sparrows. Studies carried out in some foreign countries on the effect of radiation on humans, birds and animals, have not, however, shown direct evidence that mobile towers cause infertility in sparrows.
More probably, the changing urban landscape is to blame for the flight of sparrows. “The sparrow population has definitely gone down drastically in the last few years. It’s mainly because of change in building structures and unavailability of grains. Also the increased built space in Bengaluru took away the native plant species and created shortage of insects for these birds. Sparrows are dependent on caterpillars which are essential for the chicks to grow,” explained Mohammed Dilawar, a bird expert from Nasik, also known as the Sparrow Man of India. This year Sparrow Day, March 20, will see the launch of a bird monitoring programme. Citizens will take part in sighting sparrows and other birds in their neighbourhood and help create a database.
“When someone asks me how many sparrows are left in India, I have no clue. First, we need to have some data on sparrows and other urban birds which are facing extinction and that data can be obtained by any layman,” Mr Dilawar added.