World Sparrow Day – Let’s save them, before they extinct

Did you know that 20^th March is observed as “World Sparrow Day” – in order to raise awareness among global citizens about this extinct species and the need to save them, inorder to save this environment. House sparrow is a common urban bird, which co-habitats with us, but rampant urbanization has caused more harm to this species.

The idea was to earmark a day for the house sparrow to convey the message of conservation of the house sparrow and other common birds and also mark a day of celebration to appreciate the beauty of the common biodiversity which is taken so much for granted. The first World Sparrow Day was celebrated in 2010 in different parts of the world. The day was celebrated by carrying out different various kinds of activities and events like art competitions, awareness campaigns, and sparrow processions as well as interactions with media. The idea of marking a World Sparrow Day came up during an informal discussion at the Nature Forever Society’s office.

The tentacles of development spreading with fast paced concretisation of the city have ended in choking away one of mankind’s oldest associate. While concretisation sealed the fate of sparrow nesting, rising levels of pollution only aggravated the situation for these compact birds with bright grey and brown plumage. Bird lovers looking at the civic bodies to pitch in with efforts by earmarking conservation spaces in the parks for the birds feel disheartened by the lukewarm response.

However, there are very simple measures by which one can reintroduce the sparrows into the city life. People can recycle their used water bottles to make bird feeders filled with grains. Similarly, shoeboxes kept outside can serve as nesting areas for these birds. With greater awareness, we can bring a change in the way this chirpy neighbouring bird is facing threat of extinction.