House Sparrow- deserve a house arrest or high flight?
World Sparrow Day That dainty little birdie is losing its chirp in your backyard. It’s time to rejuvenate your surroundings by rejoicing their close proximity to your dwellings.
The house sparrow (Passer domesticus) is truly one of those birds that will take you back to the memory lane of childhood. Their nests adorned every house and public place back then. Irony much in 202? Surviving on food grains and tiny worms, these little birds needed no distinct treatment. Many bird watchers and ornithologists recall with fondness how the house sparrow gave flight to their passion for observing birds. The association with sparrows is centuries old and is well mentioned in folklore and songs from time immemorial.
Unfortunately, the house sparrow is now a disappearing species. But like all other plants and animals which were once abundant and are now facing an uncertain future, their numbers are also declining across their natural range. The reasons behind it are multiple but however, the noticeable disappearance is still a big mystery. Worldsparrowday.org says- A leading newspaper in the United Kingdom, a country that has witnessed one of the biggest declines of the house sparrow population in recent times – declared a cash prize to anyone who could solve the mystery. Needless to add, the reward lies unclaimed.
Increasing pollution from mobile phone towers, deforestation, global warming, non-vegetarianism, all of it add to the decline in the number of species. It’s time you glance through a few quick facts of the beauty we discussed above-
- Sparrows can survive between 4 and 5 years in the wild.
- The oldest sparrow recorded to date is known to live for 15 years and 9 months!
- House Sparrows love to play with dust and soil. They spoil themselves in the dust as if trying to have a bath with it.
- Sparrows raise three nests of 3-5 eggs. Both males and females help to incubate the eggs for 12-15 days. The fledglings usually fly out after 15 days.
- Once found in huge numbers across the world, the small bird is slowly making its way to the endangered list.
This World Sparrow Day, let’s all pledge to switch to a better tomorrow; all for the nature around us.
