World Sparrow Day

Once found in huge numbers across the world, the small bird is slowly making its way to the endangered list.

To raise awareness and protect the house sparrows, every year on March 20 World Sparrow Day is observed. The first World Sparrow Day was organized in 2010.

Sparrow is a symbol of loyalty in Japan owing to its friendly nature and ability to live in groups.

A reduction in the availability of suitable nest holes in modern buildings and renovated old buildings must have occurred. Modern designs and house plans do not leave any crevices or space even outside4 the buildings that can be used for nesting by the sparrows.

Greater volume of traffic leads to increased disturbance and pollution from exhaust fumes, both of which would be greater in city center's than small towns. It seems unlikely that this alone could have been responsible for the urban-Centre decline. In addition, the House Sparrow is a social animal which nests in loose colonies and depends on social stimulation for its breeding success.

On 15 August 2012, the then Chief Minister of Delhi Ms Sheila Dikshit declared sparrow as the “State Bird of Delhi”. This declaration was part of “Rise for the Sparrows”-India’s largest conservation program for sparrows. On January 2013, Bihar Chief Minister Mr. Nitish Kumar also announced the sparrow as the State Bird of Bihar.

The World Sparrow Day attempts to bring sparrow lovers and nature supporters on a common platform and start a conservation movement to save the common flora and fauna of the world. If possible people should try to provide an alternative nesting site for the House Sparrow. 

To revive the sparrow population, we should install small sparrow houses and provide food and water to them. In this manner perhaps, we may succeed in bringing back the House Sparrow into our lives so that the future generation can also enjoy the pleasure of watching these small and chirping little birds in their homes.