Till some years back, the house sparrow was the quintessential 'chidiya', the most common image to come to mind when one discussed birds in Delhi's urban context. One day it dawned on the city that the little feathery creature has more or less vanished, its absence even more pronounced by the sudden over-population of pigeons. Finally, the sparrow has been recognized for its importance in the city's biodiversity. On Tuesday, it was declared the state bird of Delhi.

Delhi adopts humble sparrow as its state bird

There have been many theories put forward for the almost worldwide decline of the House Sparrow. It is said that sparrow chicks, who require insect food for their survival in their early days, have not been getting adequate supply from their parents. This has triggered large scale deaths of chicks leading to gradual decline of their population. 

Native range in dark greenand introduced range in parrot green

of sparrow

The Russet Sparrow (Passer rutilans), also known as the Cinnamonor CinnamonTree Sparrow, is a chunky little seed-eating bird with a thick bill. It has a body lengthof14–15 cm(5.5–5.9 in). Its pl umage is mainly warm rufous above and grey belowand it shows sexual dimorphism, with both sexes having a pattern similar to thatof the corresponding sex of House Sparrow. It has a sweet and musical chirps, whichwhen strung together form a song. The Russet Sparrow is described as shy andwary by some observers, although J. Denis Summers-Smith found it approachable inIndian hill stations

World Sparrow DayMarch 20 is being observed as the World House Sparrow Day,

across the globe to raise public awareness about the decline of the house sparrow and throw light on the problems faced by the

species in its daily fight for survival