On a wing and a hope

It is not just the sparrows number that needs some exactness. There is something befuddling about the hardy birds vanishing act. The reasons given are far too many,with every urban attribute being flagged pesticides killing off insects that sparrows feed on,lower availability of seeds,modern buildings having fewer nooks and crannies for the bird to nest,leaded petrol and even particulates in diesel exhaust. The Independent newspaper in London even offered a prize to anyone who could offer a scientific explanation for the house sparrows disappearance from British cities 12 years later,it remains unclaimed.

The sparrow has had some mighty predators: Mao,for one,declared the grain-gobbling tree sparrow the biggest challenge to his Great Leap Forward and almost exterminated it from China. But the bird has been an old companion: theres even a hieroglyph of it. Delhi can become its nesting place,says Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit,and it could become the indicator of the metropoliss biodiversity. For that,New Delhi has to crack the mystery of how New York City has,upending many theories,become the sparrows spacious nest.