I would like to wish everyone a belated Happy World Environment Day! This year's theme being connecting people to nature, I decided that I would write a report on the disappearance of sparrows from many urban cities in India.

Roughly twenty years ago, sparrows were a part of many households in India. They used to build their nests on small empty spaces found in building walls or on the branches of trees and also live in the bird houses set up by people in their gardens. Many people considered these beautiful birds as a part of their family as these birds prefer to live in close proximity with the human population. Everyday, these birds arrive in large groups if they see some food being offered and their chirping can be heard all throughout the day. Sadly today, It is very hard to find sparrows in urban cities.

There are many reasons why sparrows have moved away from the cities. The main reasons for the decline of sparrow populations in urban areas include:

Sparrows are now mostly found in small villages and towns. These places still have traditional building designs which provide small free spaces for sparrows to live and build their nests. Food and water resources are available in plenty, Electromagnetic radiation is lesser, and native trees thrive in these areas. Although some sparrows are still spotted in cities, villages and towns prove to have the ideal conditions for survival of sparrows. 

Last year, in the month of December, I went to visit my relatives in Kharghar, Navi Mumbai and was surprised to find sparrows sitting on their veranda grill. The part of Mumbai where my relatives live is still developing, hence the large sparrow population. My relatives told me that the birds would come every morning and afternoon for food, which included biscuits (broken into small pieces) and papadums. I could hear the tuneful chirps they made to communicate between each other. It is really sad to see that these small and cute birds are being threatened by modern development.

There are ways to prevent the population of sparrows from decreasing further.

World sparrow day is celebrated on 20th March in order to spread awareness about conserving sparrow populations all over the world. An effort that is taken to safeguard the survival of a certain species is also an effort taken to preserve the ecosystem and save the environment.