“The sparrow that is twittering on the edge of my balcony is calling up to me this moment a world of memories that reach over half my lifetime, and a world of hope that stretches farther than any flight of sparrows.”
– Donald G. Mitchell
“Passer”: Latin term for sparrow. Birds that perch, have three toes facing the front and one facing the back. Belonging to the family of Passerines, that consists over 50% of the total bird species in the world, sparrows are some of the commonest birds found worldwide.
20 March, 2020 marked the Tenth World Sparrow Day, with the theme ‘I Love Sparrows’.
On this day, the world community celebrated the existence of these beautiful creatures, that make themselves at home even in the heart of the bustling cities.
We are witness to the sparrow’s delicate flight, melodious, twittering and the socially comfortable behaviour that they display. Hence, many of us have one way or the other gotten attached to them.
Let’s celebrate the petite bird, many of us grew up watching. Let’s do our bit to help combat the rapidly diminishing population of sparrows, due to habitat loss and pollution.
Here are a few things you could do:
- Keep a bird feeder and water in your balconies, terraces and gardens
- Refrain from using pesticides
- Grow plants and trees
- Create awareness amongst the younger generation and your peers
We also take the clock back to the days of Dr. Salim Ali, the legendary ornithologist responsible for one of the most sought after hobbies in India, Bird Watching.
He penned down his observation of sparrows in his autobiography ‘The Fall of a Sparrow’. His curiosity towards their behaviour was something that flared up his change of profession and what happened next was history.
Contribution by: Swanand Deshpande, Naturalist, Denwa Backwater Escape and Natasha Sinha, Content Curator, Pugdundee Safaris