Current Science

Open Access Open Access  Restricted Access Subscription Access

Finding Clues in Cities: Nest Site Selection by House Sparrows Across a Varied Habitat Matrixin Delhi, India


Affiliations
1 Amity Institute of Forestry and Wildlife, Amity University, Sector-125, Noida 201 301, India
2 Department of Zoology, Mukand Lal National College, Yamuna Nagar, Haryana 135 001, India
 

With changing urbanization pattern and architectural style, the house sparrow is rapidly losing its nesting ground leading to a drastic decline in its population. We studied the sparrow nest site selection to make recommendations to the Forest Department and NGOs in the conservation of sparrows in Delhi, India. Active nests were located across the habitat matrix in East Delhi. The maximum number of nests was found in suburban and high-density urban areas. The most preferred place for nesting was rolling shutters and wall crevices. The presence of old buildings, vegeta-tion patch, water source, grocery shops, food provi-sioning, open drains and open dumps influence the sparrow nest selection site. By conserving natural habitat and installing nest boxes at suitable places, the sparrows can be conserved.

Keywords

Habitat Matrix, House Sparrow, Nest Site Selection, Urban Birds.
User
Notifications
Font Size

  • Singha, H., Deb, P., Chakdar, B., Roy, J. K. and Choudhury, M. R., Nest site selection by passerines with special reference to house sparrow (Passer domesticus) and spotted munia (Lonchura punctulata) in a newly developed semi-urban hamlet in south Assam. Assam Univ. J. Sci. Technol.: Boil. Environ. Sci., 2011, 8(1), 74–83.

  • Burger, J., Habitat selection in temperate marsh-nesting birds. In Habitat Selection in Birds(ed. Cody, M. L.), Academic Press, San Diego, 1985, pp. 253–281.

  • Sohi, G. K. and Kler, T. K., Adaptations in avian nesting behaviour in relation to indigenous trees and housing structures in Punjab. J. Entomol. Zool. Stud., 2017, 5(5), 1045–1051.

  • Clark, R. G. and Shutler, D., Avian habitat selection: pattern from the process in nest site use by ducks? Ecology, 1999, 80, 272–287.

  • McGillivray, W. B., Climatic influences on productivity in the house sparrow. Wilson Bull., 1981, 93(2), 196–206.

  • Remacha, C. and Delgado, J. A., Spatial nest-box selection of cavity-nesting bird species in response to proximity to recreational infrastructures. Landsc. Urban Plann., 2009, 93, 46–53.

  • Isaksson, C., Impact of urbanization on birds. In Birds Species. Fascinating Life Science(ed. Tietze, D.), Springer, Cham, Swit-zerland, 2018, pp. 235–257.

  • Marzluff, J. M. and Ewing, K., Restoration of fragmented land-scape for the conservation of birds: a general framework and specific recommendation for urbanizing landscapes. Restor. Ecol., 2001, 9, 280–292.

  • McKenney, M. L., Urbanization, biodiversity and conservation. Bioscience, 2002, 52, 883–890.

  • Price, J. J. and Griffith, S. C., Open cup nests evolved from roofed nests in the early passerines. Proc. R. Soc. London, Ser. B, 2017, 284(1848), 20162708.

  • Sheldon, E. L. and Griffith, S. C., A high incidence of non-cavity nesting in an introduced population of house sparrows suggests that the species should not constrained by cavity nest site availability. Avian Res., 2017, 8, 29.

  • Anderson, T. R., Biology of the Ubiquitous House Sparrow: From Genes to Populations, Oxford University Press, Oxford, UK, 2006.

  • Ghosh, S., Ki, H. K. and Bhattacharya, R., A survey on house sparrow population decline at Bandel, West Bengal, India. J. Korean Earth Sci. Soc., 2010, 31(5), 448–453.

  • BirdLife International, Passer domesticus (amended version of 2017 assessment). The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species, 2018, e.T103818789A129643357.

  • Balmori, A. and Hallberg, O., The urban decline of the House Sparrow (Passer domesticus): a possible link with electromagnetic radiation. Electromagn. Biol. Med., 2007, 26(2), 141–151.

  • Crick, H. Q. P., Robinson, R. A., Appleton, G. F., Clark, N. A. and Rickard, A. D., The investigation into the causes of the decline of starlings and house sparrows in Great Britain. BTO Research Report 290, Defra, London, 2002.

  • Summers-Smith, J. D., The decline of the house sparrow: a review. Br. Birds, 2003, 96, 439–446.

  • Shaw, L. M., Investigating the role of socioeconomic status in determining urban habitat quality for the house sparrow (Passer domesticus), PhD thesis, The University of Exeter, UK, 2009.

  • Heij, C. J., Comparative ecology of the house sparrow (Passer domesticus) in rural, suburban and urban situations. PhD thesis, University of Amsterdam, The Netherlands, 1985.

  • Seress, G., Bókony, V., Pipoly, I., Szép, T., Nagy, K. and Liker, A., Urbanization, nestling growth and reproductive success in a moderately declining house sparrow population. J. Avian Biol., 2012, 43, 403–414.

  • https://www.census2011.co.in/census/city/49-delhi.html 22. Khera, N., Das, A., Srivastav, N. and Jain, S., Habitat wise distribution of house sparrow, Passer domesticus in Delhi, India. Urban Ecosyst., 2010, 13(1), 147–154.

  • Chaudhari, H. J., Nest site selection by house sparrow Passer domesticus(Linnaeus, 1758). Master’s thesis, Anand Agricultural University, Gujarat, 2016.

  • Węgrzynowicz, A., Importance of nest sites availability for abundance and changes in the number of houses and tree sparrow in Warsaw. Int. Study Sparrows, 2012, 36, 56–65.

  • Allee, W. C., The Social Life of Animals. W. W. Norton, New York, 1938.

  • Balaji, S., Baskaran, S., Rajan, M. K. and Pavaraj, M., Investigating the causes for the decline and strategies to conserve house sparrow. Passer domesticus in Sivakasitaluk, Virudhunagar district, Tamil Nadu, India. World J. Zool., 2013, 8(3), 278–284.

  • Balakrishnan, P., Jijeesh, N., Kurikkal, M. S., Maya, T., Lijitha, M. P., Bhaskar, R. R. and Vipeesh, N., Distribution, abundance and nest site characteristics of the house sparrow (Passer domesticus) in Manjeri municipality, Kerala. Technical Report, Wildlife Research and Conservation Trust, NSS College, Manjeri, Kerala, 2011.

  • Nath, A., Singha, H., Deb, P., Das, A. K. and Lahkar, B. P., Nesting in a crowd: the response of house sparrow towards proximity to spatial cues in commercial zones of Guwahati city. Proc. Zool. Soc., 2015, 69, 249–254.

  • Anandan, G. et al., The house sparrow is homeless: a small attempt to conservation. J. Biodivers. Endanger. Species, 2014, 2, 124.

  • Shaw, L. M., Chamberlain, D. and Evans, M., The house sparrow Passer domesticus in urban areas: reviewing a possible link between post‐decline distribution and human socioeconomic status. J. Ornithol., 2008, 149, 293–299.

  • Menon, M., Devi, P. and Mohanraj, R., Habitat variability and spatial assemblages of house sparrow Passer domesticus along a gradient of urbanization. J. Environ. Sci., Toxicol. Food Technol., 2013, 4(4), 1–11.

  • Kanaujia, A., Kumar, A., Kushwaha, S. and Kumar, A., Spatial distribution and habitat preference of the house sparrow, Passer domesticus in the urban, semi-urban and rural landscape of Luck-now and its neighbouring areas, Uttar Pradesh, India. Biodivers. Environ., 2015, 57(2), 182–188.

  • Dhanya, R. and Azeez, P. A., The house sparrow (Passer domesticus) population of Arakku township, Andhra Pradesh, India. Indian Birds, 2010, 5(6), 180–181.

  • Dhandhukia, S. N. and Patel, P. K., Selection of nesting sites and nesting material in common myna (Acridotheres tristis) in an urban area. Int. J. Pharm. Life Sci., 2012, 3(8), 1897–1904.

  • Gupta, N., Gore, T. and Srivastava, A., Foraging tolerance of the Indian myna towards the house sparrow: an observation. Int. J. Innov. Sci., Eng. Technol., 2014, 1(5), 162–165.


Abstract Views: 302

PDF Views: 123




  • Finding Clues in Cities: Nest Site Selection by House Sparrows Across a Varied Habitat Matrixin Delhi, India

Abstract Views: 302  |  PDF Views: 123

Authors

Shikha Choudhary
Amity Institute of Forestry and Wildlife, Amity University, Sector-125, Noida 201 301, India
N. P. S. Chauhan
Amity Institute of Forestry and Wildlife, Amity University, Sector-125, Noida 201 301, India
Rajiv Kalsi
Department of Zoology, Mukand Lal National College, Yamuna Nagar, Haryana 135 001, India

Abstract


With changing urbanization pattern and architectural style, the house sparrow is rapidly losing its nesting ground leading to a drastic decline in its population. We studied the sparrow nest site selection to make recommendations to the Forest Department and NGOs in the conservation of sparrows in Delhi, India. Active nests were located across the habitat matrix in East Delhi. The maximum number of nests was found in suburban and high-density urban areas. The most preferred place for nesting was rolling shutters and wall crevices. The presence of old buildings, vegeta-tion patch, water source, grocery shops, food provi-sioning, open drains and open dumps influence the sparrow nest selection site. By conserving natural habitat and installing nest boxes at suitable places, the sparrows can be conserved.

Keywords


Habitat Matrix, House Sparrow, Nest Site Selection, Urban Birds.

References





DOI: https://doi.org/10.18520/cs%2Fv118%2Fi8%2F1304-1309