World Sparrow Day
The diminutive house sparrow (Passer domesticus) is perhaps one of the earliest birds you can remember from your childhood. Their nests dotted almost every house in the neighbourhood as well as public places like bus bays and railway stations, where they lived in colonies and survived on food grains and tiny worms. Many bird watchers and ornithologists recall with fondness how the house sparrow gave flight to their passion for observing birds. The association between humans and the house sparrow dates back to several centuries and no other bird has been associated with humans on a daily basis like the house sparrow. It is a bird that evokes fond memories and has thus found mention in folklore and songs from time immemorial.
Unfortunately, the house sparrow is now a disappearing species. But like all other plants and animals which were once abundant and are now facing an uncertain future, their numbers are also declining across their natural range. Certainly, there is no one single reason for the decline of house sparrow. Its slow but noticeable disappearance has been labelled as one of the biggest mysteries of recent times.
The first World Sparrow Day was observed in 2010 in different parts of the world. The idea to designate a day to the sparrow, an iconic representative of urban fauna, was sporadically born during an informal discussion in the office of the Nature Forever Society (NFS), an NGO in India dedicated to the conservation of sparrows and other common flora and fauna. In collaboration with various other Indian and international organizations like the Eco-Sys Action Foundation of France, the NFS took the initiative of earmarking a day for the Passer domesticus to raise awareness about the need to conserve urban biodiversity.
World Sparrow Day also has a broader vision to provide a platform where people who are working on the conservation of the House Sparrow and other common birds can network, collaborate and exchange conservation ideas which will lead to better science and improved results. It aims to provide a meeting ground for people from different parts of the world to come together and form a force that can play an important role in advocacy and in spreading the awareness on the need of conserving common biodiversity or species of lower conservation status.
Theme
The theme for WORLD SPARROW DAY is I LOVE Sparrows. The theme has been inspired by the hope that more and more of us will celebrate the relationship between PEOPLE AND SPARROWS.
The main aim of the theme is to highlight the love that people have for sparrows and the seemingly small things that they do to make a big difference to sparrows. Through this year’s theme, the aim is to highlight how citizens from different walks of life are making amazing differences and expressing their love for sparrows by telling the world the ways in which they are helping conserve sparrows.
This theme, will help bring some amazing people into the limelight, people who are not only helping in conserving sparrows but are also spreading love for sparrows, awareness about their importance in our lives and tips on their conservation. Looking at them, it is hoped others will be inspired and join the conservation movement to save sparrows by doing small things that have major functional conservation values.
Source: http://www.worldsparrowday.org/index.html