Sparrow chirps back in Punjab hinterland

Vishav Bharti

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Tribune News Service

Barnala, February 23

While the house sparrow has lost its natural habitat in cities to human greed, some youths are out to protect the little bird from extinction. In villages of south Punjab, hundreds of wooden birdhouses are being mounted on treetops and electricity poles, and the house sparrow has taken a liking to these.

It is commonplace in villages of Barnala and Sangrur district to spot birdhouses atop electricity poles and trees. The trend has gathered momentum especially over the past year in several districts of south Punjab, says Gitanjali Kanwar, senior project officer, World Wide Fund for Nature. “It is a positive phenomenon and we have noticed the trend in villages of Patiala district as well,” she says.

The birdhouses, she says, are especially good for birds that live near human settlements. “There are around 50 species of birds that live close to humans. They include pigeons, bulbul, sparrows, parakeets, warblers, etc.” she says.

Now even endangered birds such as house sparrow are nesting in these birdhouses besides others species. “We have noticed house sparrows, which were once on the verge of extinction, in these bird houses,” she says.

Kattu village, 15 km from Barnala, leads by example with a birdhouse on almost every electricity pole in its streets. Birdhouses can be spotted even in trees. “We have put up around 500 birdhouses over the past two years,” says Bara Singh, a villager, who started the campaign after reading an article in a Punjabi newspaper about endangered birds. “We would rarely see a sparrow earlier, but they are a common sight in the village now,” he says.

The trend has also caught the imagination of non-resident Indians. In Sekha village, 10 km from Barnala, around 250 birdhouses have been put up with the help of NRIs over the past few months. The birds have yet to make their nests in these. “They take at least six months to get familiar with the setting,” says Jaspal Singh Bhattal, an employee with Punjab Police, who made the initiative.

Even carpenters of the area are getting orders for birdhouses. Rajinder Singh, a wooden toymaker from Dhanaula, displays birdhouses alongside toys at his shop on NH-64. “We often get orders for 100 or 200 birdhouses but people keep streaming in for a piece or two,” he says. A birdhouse costs between Rs 70 and Rs 150 depending upon the quantity.