Sparrows in My Frontyard

Photo courtesy: Wikimedia Commons

I love sparrows. So does my 3 year old son and his grand dad. I love the Sparrows because they are small and adorable. I love their antics and their pleasing chirps. As a child, I always coaxed dad to read out this particular Russian tale about a Sparrow named Thyupa. Though I cannot recollect the story now, I loved to listen to this story again and again simply because there was a Sparrow in it. So much was the admiration for the Sparrows in our home that, according to a popular family tale, when I was born, dad wanted to name me Chikka-Kuruvi (Malayalam for small sparrow).

Not long ago, these Sparrows (also called House Sparrows) were found everywhere – footpaths bus stands, front yards, gardens, on the roofs of the houses, in front of the flour mills, granaries of grocery shops and any other place that offered them abundant food and shelter.

But sadly today, the Sparrows are a rare sight. Thanks to rapid urbanization and encroachment of large open spaces, individual houses with spacious front yards making way for cramped multistoried apartments, commercial complexes replacing every stretch of available greenery, the Sparrows are fast losing their natural habitat and thus left homeless.

It’s heartening, however, to know that there are many dedicated organizations and individuals working towards saving the Sparrow and restoring its natural habitats. Even more heartening is the fact that in spite of losing their homes, the Sparrows are still found, albeit sparsely, in many towns and even in certain areas within the cities.

My home in Udupi, the coastal town of Karnataka is one such place. A flock of Sparrows live somewhere near our home and they are our regular visitors; coming to our frontyard all throughout the day.

But, they come here for a definite reason – food.

No, we don’t scatter grains of rice or any other pulses/cereals in our frontyard. All that we do is give a plate full of food to our dog, Cookie. And Cookie’s kennel is also in our frontyard. And Cookie never finishes her food! There are always a few morsels of rice, pieces of bread or anything else always in her plate.

So the Sparrows come – exactly at Cookie’s breakfast and lunch time in particular and then, as and when they please, throughout the day, to eat Cookie’s food. First they sit on the Hibiscus shrubs nearby and as they wait, get into a chirpy banter. That’s exactly what they are doing as I write this line. It’s a cacophony of chirps and more chirps in our garden at this moment.

When Cookie is served food, she is let out of the kennel. As she starts eating, the Sparrows slowly and very, very cautiously fly towards her plate, sit a little distance away and wait for Cookie to get engrossed in her food. Then the drama unfolds.

The Sparrows, one by one, will hop – one tiny Sparrow step at a time – to reach Cookie’s plate and then start pecking at her food. You will hear no chirping during this time. When the first Sparrow has picked enough for itself, it will fly to a safe distance (usually near the flower pots or under Dad’s bike) and start eating. Then the second Sparrow takes its turn. In this way, like disciplined soldiers, they wait for their turn to arrive, go to Cookie’s plate without disturbing her in the process, pick up as much food as possible ion their little beaks, fly away and eat to their heart’s content. For me, my 3 year old son and his granddad, it’s a delightful sight.

When the Sparrows first started this routine, it enraged Cookie. She would bark at the Sparrows and even chase them occasionally. But now she has given up. She doesn’t mind the Sparrows presence around her anymore and the brave birds are only too happy about it. Frankly speaking, they were never scared of her at any point of point. In fact, there were times when they would fly into Cookie’s kennel and grab left over tidbits from her plate, even as she looked on.

Finally dad decided to intervene. Now there are two plates near Cookie’s kennel – one for her and another for the Sparrows and food is served separately. Yet, the Sparrows still indulge in their playful antics and peck at Cookie’s food. By the way, they still drink water from a common bowl!

The Sparrows share an unusual bond with Cookie – one built over mutual tolerance for sharing food.

Just an after thought-

Do you know the reason why the Sparrow population is diminishing?

Research has found that the radiations emitted from mobile network towers are extremely harmful for the Sparrows’ health. So, the next time you are faced with poor network, don’t complain. Less mobile towers mean better chances that the Sparrows will survive.

Other reasons include noise pollution (that impairs the adult Sparrow’s hearing of their offspring’s calls for food) and the introduction of unleaded petrol (its combustion kills tiny insects and worms that are the staple diet of young Sparrows). Also, as I pointed out earlier, large present day buildings are not ideal places for the Sparrows to build their nests. They usually prefer narrow spaces and roof corners which unfortunately are never present in modern high rise buildings.

Learn more about Sparrows and the reasons for their declining numbers at:

http://indiacurrentaffairs.org/house-sparrow%E2%80%93-declining-population-kalpana-palkhiwala/

Join others at conserving Sparrows at:

http://www.citizensparrow.in/index.php?r=site/page&view=howto