Song of the sparrows
March 20 is World House Sparrow Day. Once commonly sighted, these little chirpy birds are
fast disappearing. Have you seen a sparrow lately?
"A little bird, with plumage brown, / Beside my window flutters down,/ A moment chirps its little
strain,/ Then taps upon my window-pane,/ And chirps again, and hops along,/ To call my notice
to its song;" said Paul Laurence Dunbar in his poem titled The Sparrow.
March 20 is World House Sparrow Day. Try to find out something about these little feathered
friends and see how you can protect them.
Small, plump and cheeky, this dinky bird has firmly decided to live with humans. But recently
their non-appearance in localities where they ruled the roost, is worrying. Whom are we talking
about? Certainly not about a flamboyant or an exotic bird. But a rather drab brown and grey
creature who has befriended us humans with its chirps and cute little ways and is so much a
part of our life. As Birdman Theodore Baskaran describes them, they are one species that
closely follow man, like the crow. "They are our co-tenants," he says.
This little bird could be quite a bully and is known for taking over nests of other birds, and
turfing out older "tenants". But both the male and female take care of their young, unlike other
species, for instance among peacocks only the female takes care of its chicks.
Many reasons are given for their apparent "disappearance". The introduction of unleaded petrol
is one, as the combustion of which produces compounds methyl nitrite, which is highly toxic for
small insects that forms a part of a chick's diet.
Old houses had eaves and tiles that were comfortable perches to build nests on. External
wirings and framed pictures too were "habitats". But sleek modern buildings no longer have
these and so we have lost these "feathered neighbours".
As supermarkets mushroom in urban areas, the old fashioned grain shops are disappearing. It
was once a common sight to see flocks of sparrows feasting on the grain in the gunny sacks
displayed in front of these shops or on the spilt grain.
Urbanisation has done away with home gardens, which had worms and insects for the young
sparrows. But pesticides have proved lethal for their survival. The most recent reason for their
disappearance is the mobile phone towers. The waves from the tower are capable of destroying
the life in the eggs. Thereby they are incapable of hatching.
Immortalised
Folk art of the tribals such as the Sauras (They are mentioned as 'Savaras' in Ramayana and
Mahabharata) has incorporated these little birds in their paintings which decorate the walls of
their homes with. Paintings on religious and ceremonial themes adorn them with motifs of
flowers, birds, trees and numerous geometrical shapes and designs. The minute details of the
paintings also reflect the day-to-day lives of the Sauras. This art-form is mostly found in the
Rayagada, Gajapati and Koraput districts of Orissa.
The Warli tribes in Maharashtra (The origin of this tribe goes back to Neolithic period between
2500 BC and 3000 BC) too depict them in their paintings. Whenever a wedding or birth
ceremony takes place in the tribe, they celebrate it by adorning their houses with designs.
During the harvest, paintings and designs on the walls are painted as a way of celebration.
Many folk songs too celebrate the little bird and the literary work "The Tolkâppiyam" a work on
the grammar of the Tamil language, and the earliest extant work of Tamil literature has
incorporated it.
In more contemporary times, Subramanya Bharathi has written a famous poem about sparrows
being the symbol of freedom. The Hindi author Mahadevi Verma's Story Goraiya - makes one
wish that the sparrow would return to enrich our urban lives once more.
Known by many names
The House Sparrow ( Passer domesticus) is a species of passerine bird in the sparrow family
Passeridae. In India, it is popularly known as goraiya in the Hindi speaking districts. In Tamil
Nadu and Kerala it is known as kuruvi. In Telugu it is known as the pichhuka, and in Kannada,
gubbachchi. The Gujaratis call it chakli whereas the Maharashtrians call it chimani. It is known
as chiri in Punjab, chaer in Jammu and Kashmir, Charai Pakhi in West Bengal, and gharachatia
in Orissa. In Urdu it is called chirya while in Sindhi, it is known as jhirki.
Celebrate
The World House Sparrow Day is an international initiative by Nature Forever Society in
collaboration with Bombay Natural History Society, Cornell Lab of Ornithology (USA), Eco-Sys
Action Foundation (France) Avon Wildlife Trust (UK) and numerous other national and
international organisations across the world. The World House Sparrow Day will be celebrated
on March 20, 2010. Check out: www.worldhousesparrowday.org
What will the World House Sparrow Day achieve?
This event will celebrate the House Sparrows and also birds and biodiversity found around us. It
will also bring together all the individuals and organisations working on the conservation of
House Sparrows and urban biodiversity. The attention of government agencies and the scientific
community on the whole for more conservation measures and research on the common bird
species will be focused. You can celebrate this day in your school and locality.
You can write about it to :info@worldhousesparrowday.org
You can also join the World House Sparrow Day and World House Sparrow Group on
Facebook to keep yourself updated.
What you can do
Sprinkle grain on the verandah/terrace of your house.
If you have even a little space around your house, try to make a home/kitchen garden.
Feed platforms might help the welcome birds back.
Clean water can be kept.
Pots with straw can be hung as nesting sites.
Lead environmentally healthy lives so that birds too can survive.
Say no to pesticides in your homes. Use organic repellents.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
ROHINI RAMAKRISHNAN
______
Please feel free to pass your comments, feedbacks & new ideas to the below menntioned contact details.
Email:
saravanan.ramadoss1@gmail.com
saravanan_2008@hotmail.com
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The harder the conflicts, the more glorious the triumph - Thomas Paine.
True friendship consists not inn multitude of friends, but in their worth and value - Ben Jonson.
######
Adieu.
Saravanan.R
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