Vadodara: When he went to a village in Madhya Pradesh some years ago, he spotted lot of sparrows. But when Ali Asgar Vohra returned home in Vadodara, there were literally no house sparrows around. And that motivated him to study about this little bird that used to be a common sight in the city a couple of decades ago.
“I began moving around in different localities to spot sparrows. Also, I began studying the reason behind disappearance of these birds. I learnt that urban homes that have concrete walls, no wooden structure and airtight doors don’t allow sparrows to build their nests there,” Vohra said. “Earlier, homes had some wooden structures and earthen tiled roofs where sparrows could build nests,” he added.
Vohra went on to do a detailed dissertation on ‘Search for the most suitable artificial nest for house sparrow (Passer Domesticus) while studying MSc in zoology in 2016 in Maharaja Sayajirao University. He installed 40 nests made of cardboard, wood, plastic and mud and installed them in four different areas of the old city. He considered four parameters including temperature, humidity, illumination and noise during the nesting and breeding period of sparrows.
“Apart from having less humidity that prevents infection, the earthen nests provide a perfect temperature for incubating the eggs. They also give them a natural feeling,” Vohra said. He added that sparrows are still seen in good numbers in old city areas that have traditional homes and easy availability of food.
