have become a rare sight in Bengalur

Posted by mary on March 20th, 2018

ENGALURU:  House sparrows have become a rare sight in Bengaluru. These chirpy, small birds seem to have vanished from the bustling tech-city. On World Sparrow Day, we speak to Edwin Joseph, popularly known as Sparrow Man, who has transformed his home into a sanctuary for the little gregarious birds.

"It all started 12 years back. My wife used to clean rice in a pan. The broken rice used to fall down and we would see lots of house sparrows at her feet. I asked her to put some more rice and their numbers soared. Somebody gave us plants to put in pots for the house sparrows to lay eggs. Then I made small houses for them. When we started out, we would feed around 12 birds in a day. Now there are about 200 house sparrows here," Mr Joseph said. 

When asked about the unusual interest in house sparrows, Mr Joseph said, "During my childhood, I used to see plenty of house sparrows around my house. There was nest for sparrows in our room when I got married. But they suddenly started disappearing. I once saw a sparrow stuffed and kept in a glass box at a museum. It was being shown as Indian sparrow. If we don't take measures to save them now, we may reach such stage."