Journal of
Threatened Taxa | www.threatenedtaxa.org | 26 July 2018 | 10(8): 12098–12102
Status survey and conservation of the House Sparrow Passer domesticus
(Aves: Passeriformes: Passeridae) through public
participation in Kannur, Kerala, India
R. Roshnath 1, C.P. Arjun 2, J. Ashli
3, D. Sethu 4 & P. Gokul
5
1 Department of Animal Science, Central
University of Kerala, Tejaswini Hills, Periye Post, Kasaragod, Kerala
671316, India
2 National Institute of Advanced Studies,
Indian Institute of Science Campus, Bengaluru, Karnataka 560012, India
2 Indian Institute of Information
Technology and Management-Kerala, P.O. Karyavattom, Kazhakoottam, Technopark Campus,
Trivandrum, Kerala 695581, India
1,2,3,4,5 Malabar Awareness and Rescue
Center for Wildlife, 3rd Floor, Lakshmi Complex, Opp. Koyili Hospital, Kannur, Kerala 670004, India
1 roshnath.r@gmail.com, 2 arjuncp@gmail.com
(corresponding author), 3ashli.jose@gmail.com, 4 alwayshearty@gmail.com,
5 7gpdas@gmail.com
Abstract: House Sparrows Passer domesticus are one of the most widespread passerines in
the world. A survey was conducted to
find out their status in Kannur District, Kerala. The survey recorded 553 sparrows in 35 sites
in the district. The perspectives of the
public were recorded through a questionnaire survey and conservational inputs
from the public were noted. Most of the
respondents (47%) suggested the provision of nest boxes for the enhanced breeding
of sparrows. Thus, our NGO along with
the support of students, the public and the Kerala Forest Department, placed
100 nest boxes in various identified sparrow dwelling places in the district
and it was found effective in the conservation of sparrows.
Keywords: Conservation, environment, House
Sparrow, nest box, threat.
doi: http://doi.org/10.11609/jott.3528.10.8.12098-12102
Editor: S. Subramanya, University of
Agricultural Sciences, Bengaluru, India. Date of publication: 26 July 2018
(online & print)
Manuscript details: Ms # 3528 |
Received 29 May 2017 | Final received 04 July 2018 | Finally accepted 07 July
2018
Citation: Roshnath, R,.
C.P. Arjun, J. Ashli, D. Sethu & P. Gokul (2018). Status survey and conservation of the House Sparrow Passer
domesticus (Aves: Passeriformes: Passeridae) through public participation in Kannur, Kerala,
India. Journal of Threatened
Taxa 10(8): 12098–12102; http://doi.org/10.11609/jott.3528.10.8.12098-12102
Copyright: © Roshnath et al. 2018. Creative Commons Attribution 4.0
International License. JoTT allows
unrestricted use of this article in any medium, reproduction and distribution
by providing adequate credit to the authors and the source of publication.
Funding: The project was funded under the CSR program of Krishna Mines, Tirunelveli, Tamil Nadu.
Competing interests: The authors declare no competing interests.
Acknowledgements: We are grateful to Krishna Mines super white for
providing financial support for the “Save Sparrow Project”. We extend our sincere gratitude to D. Jayaprasad IFS (CCF, Northern Circle), P. Biju (ACF, Social Forestry, Kannur Division), C.V. Rajan, (DFO, Kannur) and all other staff of Kerala Forest
& Wildlife Department for their support.
We are thankful to C. Sashikumar
(Ornithologist), Dr. Jafer Palot (Zoological Survey of India), and Praveen J. for the
advice given; and special acknowledgment to C. Sunil
Kumar (Mathrubhumi) for the press releases. We also show our gratitude to Dr. Aravind (HOD, Zoology Department,
S.N. College, Kannur), Satheesh C.P., Sooraj Kodieri, Ranjith Narayanan, Riyas Mangad and Sajith for helping out
with the survey.
House
Sparrows Passer domesticus (here after
sparrows) are one of the most widespread passerine species in the world facing
a serious decline in their population (Crick et al. 2002; Prowse 2002; Olsen et
al. 2003; Robinson et al. 2005; Vincent 2005; Klok et
al. 2006; Balmori & Hallberg
2007; Bohner & Witt 2007; De Laet & Summers-Smith 2007; Murgui
& Macias 2010; Kekkonen et al. 2011).
Similarly, there were reports of a population decline in India (Daniels
2008; Rajashekar & Venkatesha
2008; Bhattacharya et al. 2010; Dandapat et al. 2010;
Ghosh et al. 2010; Khera et
al. 2010; Dhanya 2011; Sethi & Vashisth
2013).
Urbanization
and industrialization, leading to the loss of suitable foraging locations and
nesting spaces in urban and rural areas has contributed much to the declining
sparrow populations (Cramp et al. 1985; Rao 2000;
Summer & Smith 2003; Robinson et al. 2005; Pineda et al. 2013). Besides, many reasons have been suggested for
the decline of sparrow populations such as lack of old fashioned buildings and
weedy gardens (Monika 2005), changes in agricultural practices, predators
(Summers & Smith 2003; Vincent 2005; Shaw et al. 2011), competitions
(Vincent 2005; Khera et al. 2010, Mason 2006),
disease (Vincent 2005), environmental pollution (Chamberlain et al. 2005;
Vincent 2005; Balmori & Hallberg
2007; Dhanya 2011), electromagnetic radiation (Balmori & Hallberg 2007),
lack of insect availability, nest sites, substratum, nesting materials, food
items and roosting sites (Chamberlain et al. 2005; Vincent 2005; Mason 2006; Bohner & Witt 2007; Klok et
al. 2008; Dhanya 2011). Use of unleaded fuel results in methyl
nitrite during combustion, which is harmful for soft-bodied insects, as they
form the major diet for sparrow chicks.
This was also suggested to be a threat for sparrows (Summer-Smith 2007).
Hopping
near grocery shops, picking up fallen grains and clearing out insect pests,
they were once common sights in our markets and urban areas. The birdwatchers and nature enthusiasts in
the district were concerned about the decline in one of the commonest urban
birds. Also, no studies in the
population of sparrows were conducted in Kannur District. Hence this study was taken
up by an NGO, the Malabar Awareness and Rescue Centre for
Wildlife-Kannur, aimed at documenting sparrow populations in the district, the
threats faced, the perception of the public towards sparrow conservation and
possible conservation action.
Materials and
Methods
A press
release was published in all leading newspapers in the district (with the
details of the project and contact numbers of the volunteers) to identify the
potential sparrow inhabiting areas in Kannur District (Fig. 1). The areas communicated by the respondents
were visited during 08:00–11:00 hr and 15:00–18:00 hr and the numbers of sparrows sighted were recorded using
point count method (Bibby et al. 1998) from March to
July 2015.
An
open-ended type questionnaire survey was done in markets, rural and urban towns
in the district, targeting shop keepers, workers, and
the local people. All the respondents
were between 35–55 years old. The
questionnaire survey was conducted in the local language (Malayalam).
Result and
Discussion
Status of sparrows in Kannur District
A total
of 35 sites were surveyed and 553 sparrows were recorded in Kannur District (Fig.
1). Compared to urban towns, more number
of sparrows were found in smaller towns and in rural
areas as reported earlier. Among the 140 individuals interviewed 89% stated to
have seen the sparrows earlier (in the past), but only 56% of the people stated
to have seen them in the present. This
indicated that 33% of the respondents had seen the sparrows earlier but not at
present. Hence, this data suggested that
there has been a decline in the populations of sparrows in the district.
Perspective of public regarding sparrows
Sparrows
are generally believed to be useful to the public (Fig. 2). As major pest control agents, they pick up
insects and worms (39%) from food grains; they clean the surroundings by
pecking on thrown out food materials (21%) and maintain an ecological balance
(15%). Hence, they were believed to play
a vital role in maintaining the health of the ecosystem. Twenty percent of
the respondents felt that sparrows have an aesthetic value due to their
cheerfulness and tweeting sounds to make the surroundings lively, and some
respondents (5%) believed that sparrows were a good omen when they nest in
their shops. Only faecal droppings and
accidental hits on fans were noted as a menace caused by the sparrows. Thus,
people had different perspectives on the sparrows, in terms of economic,
aesthetic, ecological and belief values.
Different
reasons were suggested by the public for the declining number of sparrows in
the district (Fig. 3). Electromagnetic radiations from the mobile towers were
the most suggested reason (35%), even though no proper scientific validation is
available in this context (Balmori & Hallberg 2007).
Other important reasons were climatic changes and its associated
temperature rise (13%) (Global warming is known to affect physiology in House
Sparrows (Yom-Tov, 2001)), modernization of buildings (9%)
leading to a lack of nesting spaces.
Cutting down of roosting trees and plants (6%) in towns had also caused
decline in the population of sparrows, as they are known to roost in small and
medium sized trees (Dhanya & Azeez
2010). Natural reasons like predation
and reproductive problems might also have affected the population. Changes in grain storage practices like
plastic bagging of grains to minimize spilling out and spoilage, use of
pesticides and chemicals in grains, pollution, decreased ration/grocery shops
(which might have reduced food availability causing a scarcity of food for the
birds), water scarcity, the destruction of nests and the loss of habitat and
nesting spaces due to urbanization (Bokotey & Gorban 2005), had decreased the endurance of sparrows in
towns. These were the other reasons
suggested by the public in the questionnaire survey.
Various conservational plans were suggested by the respondents (Fig. 4)
of which the provision of nest boxes (47%) were the most recommended suggestion
to enhance sparrow population. Also, spaces for sparrow
nesting have been thought of during modernisation of buildings; especially in towns (5%).
Planting roosting trees (14%) of small heights of less than 5m are found
to support and host good numbers of roosting sparrows (Dhanya
& Azeez 2010).
Provision for feeders with grains (11%) and water bath (5%) could also
help to regain sparrow population. Other
suggestions (13%) were to maintain eco-friendly and clean environments by
minimizing pollution and by
reduced use of pesticides.
A section of respondents who believed mobile towers to be the major
cause of the decline in the population, had suggested to
minimize construction of mobile towers (5%) as well.
Efforts for conservation of sparrows
During
the study, students and the public were involved in population assessment of
sparrows in the district. Awareness
programs were conducted in local colleges and schools to educate students about
the importance of sparrows. Mass
participation of public was assured by conducting sparrow photography
competitions, during which the public had spent time to watch and observe
sparrows in the city.
Sparrows
are expected to build nests in any available places including nest-boxes (Shaw
et al. 2008) and studies showed that artificial nest boxes can enhance the
population of sparrows in urban and sub-urban areas (Chethan
2012). Hence, with the preliminary
knowledge of the status of sparrows in the district and with the suggestion
from the public, we decided to create and fix nest boxes for sparrow
conservation. A total of 100 wooden nest
boxes were fixed in identified sparrow inhabiting sites in the district, which
later was found to be effective. Hence
with this preliminary study, we were able to map out some of the sparrow
population in the district and understand its status and potential
threats. Moreover, the project had
created a network of students and members of the public who stood for
conservation of sparrows in the district.
Furthermore, with the continuous support from stake
holders, we could create a bigger network of public, students,
shopkeepers, vegetable sellers, etc. who can be utilized to monitor the sparrow
population. Along with provision of more
nest boxes and by planting short roosting trees and maintaining urban gardens,
sparrow population in the district could be enhanced.
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