Every year, March 20 is celebrated as the World Sparrow Day to raise awareness around the house sparrow and similarly threatened birds in urban environments.
photo: unsplashWhen a sparrow died in a police firing in 1974 in Ahmedabad, the locals ended up burying the bird in a grave. The plaque still stands to this day.
PHOTO: @PARVEENKASWAN/TWITTEROnce abundant in Delhi, the house sparrow went almost extinct in the national capital around 2012. This prompted Delhi to support conservation measures.
photo: unsplashDelhi declared the house sparrow as the state bird and NGOs also joined hands to protect their habitat. As a result, sparrows began to be seen again in 2020.
photo: gettyEven though sparrows have started returning in Delhi & other Indian cities, it will still take time for the birds to return to the older numbers, experts suggest.
photo: unsplash"The modern lifestyle & infrastructure don't support house sparrows. The sightings are limited to Old Delhi & JNU campus "
-Zoologist Surya Prakash to PTI
World Sparrow Day was the idea of the international non-profit The Forever Society that was set up by Indian conservationist Mohammed Dilawar.
photo: worldsparrowday.orgTo encourage conservations of sparrows and similar birds, the Forever Society also instituted the annual Sparrow Awards starting in 2011.
Nadeem Shehzad and Mohammed Saud, the vet brothers featured in the Oscar-nominated documentary All That Breathes also won the Sparrow Award in 2014.