Birds We See Around: The Common House Sparrows (Passeridae)

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The common house sparrows, Passer Domesticus Linnaeus, (chorui/ চড়াই, চড়ুই in Bengali) love to live around humans. Eventually, for ages, they have liked to thrive in perfect camaraderie with city-dwellers. Perhaps, this is the only bird after crows, which are equally common both in urban, sub-urban and rural areas.

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This small passerine birds lived happily with humans and, everything seemed hunky dory for them until a few years ago their numbers began to decline alarmingly in the cities. The anthropogenic pressure has hit their existence severely resulting in their extinction from many Indian cities. Not only in India, their numbers have faded almost all over the planet.

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Most of the cities look like urban jungles with no place for sparrows. Sparrows prefer to nest and breed in gutters, ledges, wall ventilators, ceilings etc. but modern design and architecture have a different type of construction and, not-so-suitable for the house sparrows. Extensive installation of mobile towers in big cities are also considered as one of the major reasons for the rapid disappearance of sparrows. The emission of electromagnetic rays from mobile towers is detrimental to their survival. Ornithologists have opined, if this continues, sparrows would not take much time to disappear completely. As per ‘Royal Society for Protection of Birds` of Britain, sparrows are enlisted in ‘Red List’ on the basis of their disappearance worldwide.

Since 2010, 20th March is observed as the World Sparrow Day.

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Fortunately, a number of sparrows (about 12-15) visit us every morning and, we feed them. These tiny birds demand nothing much, just food grains or small pieces of fruits at times. If you find sparrows near your surrounding, try to feed them and help them thrive.

87 responses to “Birds We See Around: The Common House Sparrows (Passeridae)”

  2. Pingback: Birds We See Around: Indian Drongo Or Black Drongo (Dicrurus macrocercus) | Scattered Thoughts·

  3. actually i grown up seeing sparrows all around me as they made their nests in the ventilators in our home…..but that was the past…..thanks for sharing this….

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  5. Pingback: Birds We See Around: Flameback Woodpeckers | Scattered Thoughts·

  6. I had covered the same issue on my blog. After the sudden disappearance of sparrows from Mumbai I was worried. Then I felt good to see huge huge groups of sparrows in Arunachal Pradesh. Thankfully many of them have made a comeback in Mumbai .

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    • It’s great to know that like-minded bloggers are out there sharing the same interests. It’s really a matter of concern that the number of sparrows are decreasing rapidly.

      Thanks a lot for visiting my blog and reading and liking a number of posts… 🙂

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  10. Nice sharing with nice picturies Maniparna Ji. You are lucky that 12.15 sparrows visit you every morning. I miss my childhood when my house was also visited by sparrows in the same way. Just a few days back, I happened to spot a sparrow in my present area of residence after a long hiatus. May God help this noble bird in surviving.

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  23. My garden Mani would be empty without my daily visits from the many sparrows which I feed.. I love to watch them flit around and they do often squabble with each other.. They along with the Black Bird and the Robin are regular visitors..
    Such delightful photos Mani and its even more delightful to be visiting you again..
    Wishing you a wonderful Christmas and sending Peaceful thoughts and many Blessings for a Happy New Year..
    Love and Hugs
    Sue xxx

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  25. Sadly many birds everywhere are facing this..great post about another problem facing us in this new world we are in

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  26. Beautiful bird captures! I love to watch birds, Texas is where they make a stop before they fly to Mexico. I’m waiting for spring. 😍💖

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  32. We still see them here in Australia, but not in the numbers we used to. They are cheeky little birds and happily hop between tables in outdoor cafes and they seem to love the schoolground, where children leave bits of bread and other food stuff on the ground 🙂 Nice post Maniparna

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  33. Sparrows are a rarety these days, sadly. I don’t find any near my neighbourhood. Perhaps, it is because we are not inclined to feed them. I will try keeping a bowl of grains out in my backyard. I hope atleast a few arrive.

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  36. I remember being surrounded by sparrows in the late 1900s. I think after 2004 or so, their numbers had begun to dwindle. On spotting a sparrow a couple of years back, it hit me how rare a sight they have become. For me, sparrows have now somehow become symbolic of my childhood, which is kind of sad.
    Great awareness post. Thanks for sharing.

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  39. Nice post… Always my college bus passes through a toll plaza which is placed a few kilometers before from my college indeed , i watches some sparrows on the roof of that, diurnally… Otherwise i didn’t see even a sparrow somewhere else… You delivered a good information through your words!!

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