KARACHI: Over 9,000 house sparrows were recorded by nature enthusiasts in a recent informal survey launched by the provincial wildlife authorities to assess the population of these little birds struggling to survive in an increasingly polluted environment of the city.

Part of World Sparrow Day marked every year on March 20, the counting exercise was the first of its kind in the country. It covered five per cent of the total area of Karachi.

Sharing the survey’s findings at a select-gathering organised at the wildlife museum on Wednesday, Sindh Wildlife Conservator Javed Ahmed Mahar explained that the exercise’s aim was to promote sparrow protection and conservation and not to pay too much attention to data.

“The objective was to create public interest in these birds that have been part of almost every household for a long time. And, the result has been awesome. We saw people sending videos and data in writing about their counted birds across the city,” he said, while emphasising that the survey couldn’t have been materialised without the support of nature enthusiasts, especially wildlife photographers.

Asked whether the survey was scientifically organised, he said that it wasn’t unscientific.

“We met all the basic requirements for a standardised survey, though the findings do not reflect the assessment of the whole city and it would be premature to say whether the population of house sparrows has increased or declining.”

Mr Mahar, however, did describe the findings to an extent as healthy.

According to him, Sindh has four species of sparrows including house sparrows; yellow-throated sparrow, Spanish sparrow (winter visitor) and Sindh sparrow.

“The breeding season of sparrows has just begun and the best way to express our love is to help them find nesting sites that they have lost on account of our concrete building structures,” he said.

The survey covering the eight districts of Karachi recorded a total of 9,035 birds, indicating the presence and resilience of sparrows in the city’s urban environment.

The age-group of 25-35 showed the highest participation. Of them, 82pc were men and the rest women.

A total of 124 individuals actively participated in the survey. The participation of District South (31 percent) was the highest followed by Malir (22.2pc), Karachi Central and Korangi (14pc each) and the rest in West, East, Kaemari and DHA.

According to experts, the avian population across the city has declined drastically over the years. They blame multiple factors for this phenomenon including shrinking green spaces, growing urbanisation, use of pesticides, release of hazardous radiation from mobile phone towers as well as rampant poaching.

Published in Dawn, March 21st, 2024