Suddenly I started wondering, 'when did I last saw sparrows?'
'Was it about 10 to 15 years ago?'
House Sparrows, Passer Domesticus, were quite commonly sighted in our surroundings as easily as the crows, but now they appear to have vanished in the thin air.
As a child I used to admire these chirping birds coming in hoards but always seen in pairs. You will find a pair in which slightly bigger one with well defined contours of black and brown shade would represent the male gender.
Many times I have noticed them making nest within a day. I have even gingerly lifted the young one when I was so exited by the warmth and delicate feeling inside the palm!
One day I was engrossed in work keeping the window open. Suddenly I heard a 'thud, in the room. 'Oh..shuck'.. a sparrow which entered the room through the window got hit by the fan blade and fell dead. I felt so bad.
Keeping the window closed would be the only way to prevent the birds from entering.. but keeping the window closed was not possible as the room was not air conditioned. Even as I was wondering how to prevent recurrence, there was another 'thud'. Alas! There lay his companion dead...
But, there after, there was no such instance even though the windows were kept open. I have heard about birds committing suicides in hoards. Sparrows live in pairs and they are too attached with each other.
There is a song which talks about a forlorn male bird committing suicide by deliberately hitting against the stem of Rose, after its love bird dies in an accident. I do not 'pooh pooh' the song any more. Yes; sadly enough, the second 'thud' proved the truth in the song.
All this thought come to my mind, after reading a news about release of a Stamp by India Posts on this endangered species of House 'sparrows'.
WE ALL HAVE THE RESPONSIBILITY TO PROTECT AND PRESERVE BIO DIVERSITY.
If we don't attempt to do, then time is not too far when we can only see such lovely species in philatelist collections and audio-visual archives.
SHALL WE TAKE A PLEDGE TO PROTECT THE PLANTS AND ANIMAL SPECIES FROM EXTINCTION?
4 comments:
That was a lovely post.
Its a topic that's close to my heart too.
It is indeed sad that sparrows have disappeared from the big cities.
Environment Studies in Kerala concluded that the electromagnetic radiation from mobile towers was indeed affecting the honeybees and sparrows.
The solution suggested was to restrict the number of mobile towers and providing the birds with suitable protected nooks to nest.
The first one seems to be a remote possibility given the rapid advancement in mobile telephony these days. The second one sounds a little more hopeful, though finding such suitable nesting places unaffected by the EMR in big cities would be a tough task indeed.
btw, we also find that squirrels too keep away from this city. The pigeons seem to enjoy the city life, though :)
Just loved the way you have interwoven the lore of the lover birds in your post.
subu sir,
me felt - this year me found lot of birds in my sorrounding.. even found more bushes and healthy trees! (is it my imagination?)
cuckoo starts at 5.30 (no alarm clock needed..)
though me have to say them good morning at 7!
love birds - nvr know anything else - than their pair..
just laugh at them - they become alive..
how the trees - use them as a vechcle to spread their existence by feeeing them, using the wastes of them for their live - is the mystery of nature..
thanks for atleast reminding them..
don't worry.. they are alive even in internet too - as the 'TWITTER!"
Well, the sparrows seem to have disappeared from cities but you would be surprised to find a lot of them hanging,around inside and outside Bangalore International Airport, literally pecking at left overs in the restaurant tables.
Thanks Latha, Arvind and Rama for nice comments and for expressing concerns. The 'theory of adaptive radiation' is proving to be true. In reality, humans have learnt from 'mada pura' i.e.pigeons to live in flats!
Crows, Pigeons, cattle, dogs,cats & Rats have learnt to live with alternate diets.. but poor House Sparrows, Squirrels appear to be slow to adapt.
It is just not enough to have 'Ecotels' and the like for just lip service. There should be concerted initiative in ecological management and restoration.
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