Humanity Is Still Alive: Know About The Sparrow Man on World Sparrow Day

Do you remember those small sparrows, used to sit on our windows, gardens and sometimes in the bedrooms? We used to wake up by listening to them chirping every morning. It was so pleasant, natural and showed the purity of our environment in a way as well. But it has all changed now due to the global warming issues, especially in the big cities like Mumbai, Bengaluru, Hyderabad, etc. They have all vanished now from these tech-cities.

But there are still some people who know the importance of these little sparrows and are saving them by providing a home to these little birds. On this World Sparrow Day, I am sharing the story of Edwin Joseph, from Bengaluru, known as “Sparrow Man”, who has transformed his home to a kind of a sanctuary for these gregarious birds.

About the Sparrow:

• They are mostly found in Europe and most of the Asian countries.
• This little bird can be of 16cm in length and its lifespan is under 10 years.

• Can be easily differentiated as male or female, females are of pale brown and grey colour while the male is black, white and brown in colour.
• They eat grains, seeds, corn, oats, and wheat.

The Story:

It started when Edwin saw a sparrow stuffed in a small glass box at a museum and considered this bird as Indian sparrow, which was very disappointing for him. And then he started on the mission of saving the birds and sparrows.

According to him, this happened some 12 years back, when he and his wife used to put some rice in their cleaning area, so that more number of sparrows could come and get fed. They planted pots for these sparrows to lay eggs and then made a small house for them. The numbers then increased from 12 to 200.

He gave some reasons behind the disappearance of this bird, it was the residents, cutting trees, Mobile towers, and the electromagnetic waves. He said across the city, trees are being chopped off to make buildings, lakes are disappearing, which were the ways to keep sparrows around us. Because of this, birds are deprived of their needs like food, water, shelter, and shade. Apart from this, mobile towers and their electromagnetic waves also create problems for these birds.

He compared the Bengaluru city with some foreign countries like South America and said, there were no towers in those countries within the city and are instead placed on the outskirts. But here, the matter is money, you just have to pay-off authorities and can make the towers. So, somewhere people along with global warming and these waves, all are responsible for the disappearance of these little birds.

History:

Edwin was the former employee of BEML Bengaluru, and his monthly income was just Rs.1600 per month. It was very difficult when he started the process. He said he never received any help for the same and faced many financial issues at that time. But later, walked-out from all the issues and started on his own along with his wife.

Current Scenario:

Edwin is one of the happiest man today. Every morning, he wakes up with the sound of chirping made by his own house sparrows. Now, along with the uncooked rice, sparrows feed on rice, millet, dosa and chapattis as well. Edwin and his wife take care of these sparrows just like their own kids.

During an interview, he said and requested everybody to love birds and animals and save them before they get totally disappeared. He stated: "You will have to cultivate the habit of loving birds and animals, give them little food, and keep some water on the terrace or outside your house for them to drink. That is what I request people."

To create the awareness mainly about the house sparrows and other birds and about their existence, 20 March as World Sparrow Day is designated. The Nature Forever Society, a part of the international initiative to save house sparrows, was started by Mohammed Dilawar, who is an Indian conservationist started saving sparrows in Nashik and titled as one of the "Heroes of the Environment" for 2008 by TIME Magazine for his efforts.

After the awareness, the first World Sparrow Day was observed in 2010 all around the world. This is kind of a platform for the people who wants to join or are working to save the sparrows, can collaborate and exchange the ideas for a better future and environment.