World Sparrow Day: Visibility of house sparrows a tale of resilience in Delhi

“Who says house sparrows have gone missing? Come and watch hundreds of sparrows at my place. They are all around nesting breeding and surviving in my society and also in my area in the National Capital. This is their resilience to adapt to the environment if favourable habitation, breeding and nesting is provided,” says RK Singh a resident of DDA Flats, New Highway Apartments, Loknayak Puram, Bakkarwala. 

Singh has his own story for sparrows which he shares with a sigh of relief and contentment, “ I shifted to Loknayak Puram from Dwarka in 2012 and as usual I was spreading grains on my rooftop as a daily routine. I witnessed that after a few days, some house sparrows started arriving. Then I noticed after a few weeks that there was a nesting in the iron net of my window AC. Soon there were five eggs and so reproduction began. Now there are hundreds of sparrows coming to my rooftop like we used to witness in our villages. This shows that they are surviving and they want to fight for survival in this urbanisation if they get a little support from us.  So for me, sparrows are there and should be protected by the government at all costs.”

I personally have witnessed the house sparrows in the DDA pockets in Dwarka and clicked several photographs year after year. Such sparrows are seen on the rooftops. Their structures in different areas which are old or have some space suitable for their habitation are seen with the birds and their nests. A veteran Ornithologist and writer of the book ‘Birds of India’, Bikram Grewal says, “ Sparrows are seed eaters and when they get favourable environment they would survive. In urban areas of Delhi, they are less visible because their habitats are destroyed in blind urbanisation and planning.  They are visible more in number when you go to rural areas or less urbanised areas. So despite dwindling in numbers they have resilience and community and the government must think seriously about their protection.”

The state bird of Delhi ‘House Sparrow’ can be seen at many places in Delhi NCR now mainly in the areas in open with wilderness. Experts and bird watchers say that they have been witnessing sparrows in those places where once a few years back they were missing. Also, the metro stations are being seen with the sparrows chirping and sitting on-premises across Delhi NCR. Environmentalists and Ornithologists though not sure about the increase in the number of them yet they get relief from watching these birds in the areas like Najafgarh, Dwarka, Gurugram, Faridabad etc. Even in Delhi at Metro Stations on Blue Line and Yellow lines, these birds are being.

An Ornithologist and Professor at IP University, Dwarka Dr Sumit Dookia and his students have been observing the birds in Najafgarh Zone and Dwarka since 2010. According to him the number of sparrows has increased in the last five years in the area. He shared, “We have been watching house sparrows every day on our campus and I can say that the number has increased here. In the Najafgarh area and Dwarka at many places on vacant land hundreds of sparrows are seen. Like in Sector 9, 10, and Sector 3 at Metro stations like Sector 12, 13, 14, Dwarka etc sparrows are easily visible in good numbers. Earlier the visibility was less and at metro stations not visible. So according to visibility, we can say that the number has increased in our area.”

According to birdwatchers and Ornithologists in those places where once the house sparrows were in good number like in the JNU area, in Aravali and in those areas where there are wilderness and openness with a bit of habitat for a human being, the number got decreased sharply. Eminent Wild Life Experts say that sparrows have adopted some of the places as their habitat in Delhi which are in the open area with wilderness and with a semi-urbanised status. “Sparrow chooses predator-free places, open and clear visibility places for their habitat. In Delhi’s peripheral areas though still there is not heavy urbanisation and there is a wilderness, yet sparrows are there,” says Bikram Grewal.

House Sparrow is called “Passer Domesticus” which shows the importance of the domestic environment and its surroundings for them. There are grasses like Paricuma and Seteria in the vacant lands around those areas where they are nesting as these grasses help them make their nests. Also, these plants and grasses are the hosts of the insects like moths, butterflies etc which give protein for the survival of the nestlings. Sparrows never lost their breeding potential and this type of the adoption of nesting sites and breeding shows that they have great breeding potential if the environment is favourable for them even in urban areas. “ We have replaced grass with ornamental plants. We have made houses without any space for those birds to make nests. These are some important things to think about as this affects the breeding of the birds and so the number is observed to decline in urban areas. If it continues in the future we could lose these little birds,” says Nikhil Devasar a birder who spent more than 25 years observing the species.

According to data, there are 26 species of sparrows found in the world whereas in India there are five species. Out of five, the house sparrow is on having a relationship with human civilisation for more than 10000 years. Now the state bird of Delhi is fighting for its survival yet showing hope to think about them seriously in the policies to protect. In research by ICAR( Indian Council of Agricultural Research ) in different states the population of sparrows has gone down. In Andhra Pradesh, it has gone down by 80% while in the states like Kerala Gujrat and Rajasthan, it has gone decreased by 20% An eminent wildlife photographer who has written on sparrows says, “ We are lacking in studies on sparrows in India which is must do. If we do not become serious the birds could be on the red list like Europe. The government agencies should fund and encourage research works on them.”  Bikram Grewal too says similar to Parashar but he says that government has a poor approach to these birds for their survival.