Once upon a tine, the House Sparrow was the most familiar bird in the world. They have been close to humans and have shared thousands years of relationship with the mankind. They have peacefully coexisted with us in our buildings and gardens, but no more.

We can still remember our mothers or grandmothers throwing seeds so that the sparrows could feed.  We have played and heard stories about the house sparrows. We always wanted to keep them close to us. But in the last two decades, their population is on the decline in almost every city.

The reasons attributed are rapidly changing cities are no longer a suitable habitat for the house sparrow, as the new and modern designs of infrastructure does not give any room for the sparrow to nest; pollution caused by microwave towers and pesticides; the house sparrow loses its foraging grounds as the green spaces in our cities give way to more concrete constructions.

According to the article Disappearing sparrows- Common bird goes uncommon Neeraj Khera, said “Since sparrows are sensitive to changes in the environment, they serve as an important bio-indicator for a healthy urban ecosystem, indirectly indicating human health, and their decline today has started resulting in increasing diseases among the people.

World Sparrow Day (20^th March) is a day designated to raise awareness for the House Sparrow and other common birds. It is an international initiative by the Nature Forever Society of India in collaboration with the Eco-Sys Action Foundation (France) and numerous other national and international organizations across the world.

World Sparrow Day provides a platform where people who are working on the conservation of the House Sparrow and other common birds can network, collaborate and exchange conservation ideas which will lead to better science and improved results.

The idea of marking a World Sparrow Day came up during an informal discussion at the Nature Forever Society’s office. The idea was to earmark a day for the House Sparrow to convey the message of conservation of the House Sparrow and other common birds and also mark a day of celebration to appreciate the beauty of the common biodiversity which is taken so much for granted.

The first World Sparrow Day was celebrated in 2010 in different parts of the world. The house sparrow is the State Bird of Bihar.

  birds, conservation, environment, sparrows