| ID | 2493 |
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| Q1. Name of locality or area you are reporting about | Sector 11 in Chandigarh |
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| Rough Address/Area | |
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| City/District | Naya Gaon |
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| State | Chandigarh |
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| Location Latitude | 30.77255821 |
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| Location Longitude | 76.79618835 |
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| Q3. What time period are you reporting about? | 1990-1994 |
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| Q4. What kind of general area are you reporting about? | City (main) |
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| Q5. What kind of locality is/was this in the time period chosen above? | Old residential area |
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| Q6. Roughly how large is the locality/area from which you are reporting sparrows? | 500 m to 1 km across (eg, a residential colony, commercial area or small village) |
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| Q7. How well do/did you know this place in the time period chosen above? | I lived there |
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| Q8. How frequently did you see House Sparrows in the time period and locality/area chosen above? | Often: I saw sparrows several times a week |
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| Q9. When you did see House Sparrows in this time period and locality/area, how many did you typically see? | A fair number: When I saw sparrows, there were usually between 5 and 30 birds |
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| Q10. If House Sparrows are/were present in this time period and locality/area, did you observe active nests? | Nests seen occasionally |
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| Q11. Would you like to share a story about House Sparrows from this time period? | House sparrows had made nest in our varanda and we had shown our children hatching of the chicks.
Now we do not see this bird any more. The situation is so not only in India but almost the world over. The name suggests that the bird lived in association with man because of protection from the carnivores. The urban areas (like our kitchen garden, park, lawns) we do not use pesticides and herbicides; there has been no change in the architectural designs of the buildings in the city. There, however, is one change since that period, i.e. the emergence of cell-phone towers - more in urban areas. The emergence of cell-telephony and decline of house sparrows (birds being very sensitive) coincides. The phenomenon is worldwide and more in the urban areas. This is a logic which is by and large acceptable to many Ornithologists, especially who are not stuck to the old concept of use of pesticides which are not the same everywhere. The pesticides had been in use since long.
I have been working on this aspect with scientific approach. Although not on sparrow eggs (that I can't get in good numbers for my experiments that too repeatedly), but on fertilized hen eggs. The results of the effects of cell-phone radiations on chick embryos are clear. I will share the results after completing the studies. |
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| Q12. What kind of buildings are/were present during this time period in this locality? | Single-storey bungalows |
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| Q13. Please describe this locality/area in your words. | One kanal house with two mango trees in the back yard and one Litchi tree in front |
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| Q14. Does or did anyone feed sparrows in this locality/area, or put out nestboxes? | Neither |
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| Q15. If this is an agricultural area, what are the main crops grown? | - |
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| Q16. How much green space exists/existed in this locality? | A few |
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| Q17. If you have seen sparrow nests, where were they? | Wall cavity, In electrical fixture, varandha |
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| Q18. When did mobile phone coverage arrive at this locality? | 1995-1999 |
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