Chittu Kuruvi Chirrups into Oblivion

Rajeshwari Ganesan Iyer

Coimbatore: Chirruping of the brown-spotted friends have slowly but steadily been fading into oblivion. Even as environmental organizations embark on ventures including the installation of nest boxes and bird feeders to provide some respite to their dwindling population in the city, the count of Passer domesticus or commonly known as the house sparrows has gone down alarmingly.

These little chirrups have become so much a part of human civilization and landscape of our daily existence that their botanical name is “domesticus” meaning "belonging to the household”.

According to a study that was conducted by the Sálim Ali Centre for Ornithology and Natural History (SACON) in November last year, the abysmally low population of sparrows was attributed to a number of factors including urbanisation, pollution, loss of habitat and scarcity of grains and insects that constitute their food. According to Dr Goldin Quadros, wetland ecologist with SACON and a naturalist, “The switch from tiled roofs to concrete roofs in many areas had reduced the nesting space for sparrows. The terraced buildings preferred over the tiled houses have no crevices or holes, leading to a drastic decline in nesting sites for sparrows. Rapid urbanization is an attributing factor.”

According to Pattammal Jayaraman, a septuagenarian who feeds the birds everyday at her house in Vadavalli, the chittu kuruvi almost never visits her residence nowadays. “The birds use electric meter boxes for nesting. How will they survive? I tried some of these modern nest boxes, but the winged visitors have become a rarity,” she rues in dismay.

On World Sparrow Day which falls on March 20, environmentalists urge Coimbatoreans to take an effort to increase the population of sparrows by incorporating small changes in lifestyle. “While building a house ensure you leave some nesting space for sparrows,” urges Dr Goldin. “They need food too. A daily habit to scatter some grains in your backyard will invite the birds. also ensure that there are no live wires hanging around their nesting spaces,” says Pattammal.

(Published in The New Indian Express dated 20th March 2012, Coimbatore edition)