HOW long has it been since you’ve spotted a sparrow in your housing area? It recently dawned on me that I have not seen one for quite sometime. I used to see them flying around in the morning, chirping loudly, But I don’t anymore. This is strange because sparrows have always been found where humans live. For centuries, songs have been sung, and poems written about sparrows.
It’s like a wake-up call. I did a Google search and discovered that the sparrow population has been disappearing at an alarming rate. Due to the decrease, a bird as common as the sparrow is included by the International Union for Conservation of Nature in its Red Data List of threatened species since 2002.
Previously, sparrows were everywhere, they inhabited everything built by people. With houses being turned into condos, flats and with mobile phone towers, there appears to be no room for sparrows to build their nests. The packed food culture and supermarket-like food bazaar have also completely outdated the concept of grains being openly sold in shops. The grains spilling out from gunny bags were the major source of the omnivorous sparrows’ food which is not available anymore.
Scientists also consider mobile radiation the major culprit for their disappearance. Birds navigate by sensing the earth’s magnetic fields and mobile radiation is known to disturb these and interfere with their ability to move around. Moreover, insects, which are a baby sparrow’s diet, are in short supply due to insect repellent, insecticides and pesticides. Sparrows’ inabililty to feed their offspring has increased the species’ infant mortality rate.
The dwindling sparrow population is also caused by climate change and we have to act swiftly to address climate change .
K.T. MARAN
Seremban, Negri Sembilan