World Sparrow Day 2020

Relation of house sparrows and humans dates back to 400,000 years The social species separated from wild birds with the introduction of agriculture The peculiar creature stays near human settlements and avoids forests However, with modernisation the bird’s population saw a dramatic dip Almost each city saw a decline in its population, as per WWF Situation is no different in India, which gives the bird a special importance House Sparrows have become almost invisible from the Indian streets Escalating factors include modified architecture, electromagnetic radiations, loss of foraging grounds, noise pollution However, with recent initiatives towards saving the bird, the scenario is improving The improvement is remarkable particularly in the suburban and rural areas People have been putting bird feeder bowls and are creating lavish kitchen gardens As per the 2020 report by State Bird of India, the population of house sparrows is stable overall in India However, the challenge still stands in metropolitan cities including Bangalore, Delhi and Kolkata The IUCN has tagged the bird under “Low conservation Category”