Modern architecture scaring away sparrows

Have you noticed sparrows sitting outside your window on some tree branch recently? Have you ever wondered why you have not come across a little sparrow nest either? No. Then please understand, it's because of the buildings you live in or work at.

Modern architecture and glass buildings have been playing havoc with the sparrow habitat and this is the main reason for the drastic decline in the number of sparrows in Mumbai. The sparrow population has nearly halved in the past decade.

Modern architecture usually involves box-shaped glasses or concrete buildings that have robbed sparrows of their nesting cavities and exposed them to collision with glass buildings they cannot see.

"We have more than 170 cavity-nesting birds in our country and the disappearance of sparrows is primarily because they are unable to find nesting cavities anymore. There is a lack of awareness and research on birds. And we keep underestimating their importance as bio-indicators as they will be the first to fly away when there is a major ecological change," said

Mohammed Dilavar, the founder of Nature Forever Society, which organised a seminar on the ecological impact of modern architecture on sparrows jointly with Rachna Sansad College of Architecture.

Air and noise pollution are also responsible for disturbing the fragile ecosystem of small birds and driving them away from the city. "Within 5-10 years, the sparrows might become extinct," said Arpita Bhagat, project head, Common Bird Monitoring of India (CBMI)

Conservation efforts would include building nesting cavities for smaller birds around buildings and keeping artificial bird feeders and houses in your windows or balcony for the birds looking for a home.

"We are considering growing native and indigenous plant species in lawns; landscaping and building community spaces to increase our natural biodiversity instead of driving them away by planting invasive foreign species. We are in the process of preparing a manual for the municipal corporation in this regard," said Pallavi Latkar, teacher of environmental landscaping at Rachna Sansad.

World Sparrow Day is celebrated on March 20.