The Hindu : Tamil Nadu / Chennai News : Decline in number of sparrows hints at crisis, says expert

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Wednesday, Mar 23, 2011
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Tamil Nadu

Tamil Nadu - Chennai

Decline in number of sparrows hints at crisis, says expert

Staff Reporter

The exhibition showcases an extensive collection of stamps that were issued on endangered species

Wide array:Post Master General (Chennai region) M.S. Ramanujam and ornithologist Ranjit Daniels look at the display of stamps at the exhibition commemorating the World Sparrow Day in Chennai on Monday.

CHENNAI: Recapitulating a seemingly lost world in which birds lived in close proximity to human settlements are the hundreds of stamps displayed at an exhibition commemorating World Sparrow Day at the Philatelic Bureau of Anna Salai Head Post Office here.

These tiny frames with images of indigenous birds of India, Japan, Ghana, Malaysia, Denmark among many others date back to the 1960's.

A lingering misconception

Refuting the lingering misconception that attributes the decline of sparrows to the increasing number of cell phone towers, Ranjit Daniels, ornithologist, who inaugurated the exhibition on Monday, said that cities including Hyderabad and Bangalore with highly advanced radio wave towers for the new airports are still home to a large number of sparrows.

It can also be argued that with the sprouting of concrete buildings in many parts of the city, sparrows have moved to peripheries where their chances of survival are more, he said.

“Areas along the Velachery lake to Adambakkam have many sparrows and so do the villages of Coimbatore and Erode,” he said.

“The declining number of insects has affected the sparrow population because while the adult birds eat grains, the chicks survive on insects,” he said, adding that besides the night lights that consume a huge number of insects every day, the stringent cleanliness and hygiene maintained in many urban settlements have been another reason for the decline of insects.

“The decline of sparrows is just a flagship that talks about the larger environmental imbalance and the impending crisis,” he added.

The exhibition showcases an extensive collection of stamps that were issued on endangered species, including the fish owl, also called the ‘philosopher of the forest' of Japan and the cackling goose that manages to evade hunters with its powerful eyesight, but often falls prey due to negligible smelling abilities.

Stamps with images of brown-bobbies with plunging heads in water, dancing cranes, variety of egrets and colourful flamingos are part of the exhibition.

The exhibition is open till Saturday from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Post Master General (Chennai region) M.S. Ramanujam participated in the inaugural ceremony.

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