Jaipur experiment to save the sparrows

In order to save the house sparrows from extinction, Jaipur carried out an experiment of sorts. In the month of February, which is the normal breeding time of sparrows, conservationists involved in the birding fair in the city sold about 1,200 nest boxes. People could put these up these boxes outside their homes. These were meant to serve as safe sites for the house sparrow to breed in.
However, six months down the line, the results are not encouraging. A rough estimate of the number of boxes in which sparrow chicks were found revealed that only 40% of the boxes hosted sparrow families.
This has been reported in timesofindia.indiatimes.com dated 30 August 2016.

The reasons for the birds shying away from cities are the modern architecture which are inhospitable to these birds that usually nest in crevices of buildings. Many of those who took home the boxes reported that they failed to attract breeding sparrows. While it was meant for sparrows, it seems mynahs took up some boxes. These birds are gentle and need all possible support to survive the hostile environment that human beings are creating for them. Sparrows eat up insects and keep the population of insects in check. Obviously, the Jaipur imitative should be followed up and not discarded - it will require patience. However, it has been observed that Jaipur is turning out to be more hospitable to pigeons and mynahs, which appear to be chasing off the mild sparrows. People feed grains to the pigeons hence they come.


Image courtesy wikimediacommons.org


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