Where have all the sparrows gone?

Or have they really gone anywhere?

I begin by thanking the gentleman from New Zealand for bringing up this subject again. It is pleasing to note that some of us, without being overwhelmed by the hectic man-made race of day-to-day living, still have time and concern to touch on such insignificant looking subjects - the simple little marvels of creation.

Actually it would not be very correct to assume that Asian house sparrow (Passer Domesticus) of the old world sparrow family, migrated Down Under. The sparrow lived in most of Europe and much of Asia.

It has followed humans all over the world and has been intentionally or accidentally introduced to most of the Americas, sub-Saharan Africa, Australia (including New Zealand) as well as urban areas in other parts of the world.

In fact its introduction to the Sates was a deliberate act - a pest control measure between 1850 and 1875, where it is recorded that around 150 pairs were introduced and protected.

So, the good old sparrow has been a Sri Lankan bird for all intents and purposes, though not endemic to Sri Lanka.

It is still very much with us in Sri Lanka. Even last time round when this subject came up for discussion in this forum, our legitimate concern was that sparrows were not to be seen in great numbers they used to some years or decades ago. But is it true?

The sparrow is not at all an endangered species. In fact you would find it under LC (least concerned) status in the ICUN conservation status list.

Its propagation has reached threatening proportions, it’s being trapped and killed in some States in the US for being a pest, endangering the propagation of endemic song birds such as Bluebirds, Sand Martins, House Martins, and Purple Martins etc. Contrary to popular belief, house sparrow is not a tamed or semi-domesticated bird. It actually remains wary of man. It depends on man for food and home and not companionship.

Having stated that, I admit that surely it is a rare bird amongst our households in Sri Lanka, despite the popular belief. We would love to have them nesting in the clay pots, cardboard or wooden boxes we have fixed on our walls, showering us with that incessant chirpy “Phillip, Phillip” note.

It was my childhood dream to have them occupy the white spotted black clay pot (a discarded “Walanda or Muttiya”) hung on the wall by a nail in my house isolated by other houses by a fair distance, as was the case around four decades ago.

There was only one pair of sparrows in our neighbourhood then, which too was nesting on a fluorescent light fitting of my neighbours.

However, once in a while they would visit our pot, perched on the top of it, peeped into it and even ventured into it, which raised my pulse rate with the expectation that they were about to move into my pot.

I used to even put dhal, green gram and rice into the pot, believing that it would be an inducement for them to prefer our arrangement to the very uncomfortable and unsteady fluorescent fitting of our neighbours.

But it was not to be, they have their own ways, and I was heartbroken. Instead a pair of magpies (polkichcha) occupied it and lived for a long time. I am passed fifty now, and believe me still I have over 4 pots, brand new ones, unlike the smoked black one we had those days, hanging in very carefully chosen places, still in expectation of the arrival of those little marvels. I even discourage squirrel and magpies in their attempts to occupy them, as I meant them for the little sparrow and nothing but the sparrow.

When I built my own house in a suburb around 20 years ago, where a few dozens more houses too were built at the same time, this being an auctioned land in an exclusive residential area, a flock of over 100 sparrows swarmed our newly built and being built houses.

To my dismay, they were here there and everywhere, spending nights under rafters, building nest on hanging light fittings etc etc.

Sand bathing flock was a common sight those days. They cleaned the worms off our Kathurumurunga trees. It was like my childhood dream has finally come true. They finally built a house the way I always dreamt of - in a clay pot with a nicely rounded entrance and small holes everywhere to facilitate ventilation.

But in around a year or two, with our plots started to be filled with newly planted trees, they were all gone, as unexpectedly and surprisingly as they came. It looked to me that they preferred the barren lands with concrete structures to the houses surrounded by lush greenery.

During their occupancy of my pot, I have made some serious observations, in addition to above, which I believe would have somewhat contributed to the dwindling of the sparrows in our midst - or should I say discouraged them from living in pairs in isolated places.

1) Few of the chicks hatched in the pot at my home were maimed by entangling in synthetic fibre threads the parent sparrows have un-purportedly used for nest building.

I saw two repeated cases where the tiny legs of chicks were bent beyond restoration, from birth, entangled in the synthetic nesting materials. These chicks failed in their struggle to land and perch and could not survive outside the pot.

2) Then I saw instances where rats have attacked the pot at night and carried away occupants for supper. I even found out, by strewn feathers and scattered bones, where these hapless creatures had been consumed.

3) Also I have seen the magpie robin (Polkichcha) and squirrel getting better of sparrow in their struggle for the occupancy of a nesting place such as a pot or a box. I have read that in the European scene, the sparrow is the aggressor, evicting rightful owners of nest, building nests on top of existing nests even with chicks in them, and even instances of killing other house dwelling song birds.

But locally the sparrows are in the receiving end. All these must have definitely discouraged a potential sparrow building its nest in an isolated location, such as a single house in a plot of land surrounded by trees.

I have also read about the very liberal and mindless use of pesticides and weedicides too have a bearing on the decline of the sparrows (and many more creatures for that matter) over the years. I have had no way of verifying this claim.

I think these observations made me wiser. I think I now can see from the angle of the sparrow. Just like we would look for many factors when choosing an abode, so would the sparrow, or any bird for that matter.

Our practice of placing a pot or a box in a place convenient and where we would love to have them nesting definitely would not be always acceptable to these creatures who too are living individuals with sense of security.

They would definitely be looking for safety, sensing numerous dangers that would be lurking everywhere. I am sure they are more at ease in very busy and congested environment, such as in public markets, rest houses (those mass rest houses in Kataragama, Anuradhapura and the like) and housing schemes, where there is plenty of refuse and throw-aways, where cats and rats have other morsels to feed on and better attractions, than trying to gobble down a family of tiny sparrows; where their common predators would not have their own way as they would in an isolated setting like in an average home.

Finally, going back in time, not I feel that in Sri Lanka, we never had sparrows living in great numbers, especially in and around individual house units. True enough, we all would have had a pot or box hanging readily for the sparrow. But how many of them were occupied by the sparrows? Compare it with the times a pair of magpies made it their home and lived for many years, releasing so many of their young to the nature.

Actually, the sparrows have not left us for cooler climes. Rather they do live in numbers in selected locations, true to their very social behaviourial patterns. But there certainly is a decline in the odd couple living amongst isolated/separated house units. There could be many more contributory factors for this phenomenon, than what I have stated above. I am sure we would hear different observations and inferences from our readers who have been sensitive to this issue.

Gehan WIJESINGHE