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The Case of the Disappearing Sparrows

The Case of the Disappearing Sparrows

By Luis

The common house sparrow, once seen everywhere in large numbers in Mumbai has become scarce in many areas, and this is causing concern not only to bird lovers but also to scientists.
Formerly, miners used to carry canaries down into the mines with them. If the canaries showed signs of distress it indicated that there were poisonous gases in the air, and the miners would immediately leave the mine. Today, if the sparrows of Mumbai are in distress it could be a warning to human residents. The declining bird population could mean that air pollution levels in the metropolis are rising dangerously; or, since sparrows are grain eaters, it could indicate that the grains that the people are consuming contain higher dosages of pesticides than before.

In some countries like Britain, the quality of the environment is graded according to the number of bird species found in the locality.

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Last updated on :7/1/2003

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User's Comments

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l.c ,.Nagaraaj: Sparrows are missing because: 1. modernisation of food cycle 2. extinction of tiled houses

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PARUL KHANNA: This is a very good and informative site for the small children.

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marlon: I love this site.

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Manasa Narayan: Thanks a lot for the information. The information was very useful for my project and also for my essay. Could you please send me more information about the endangered plants of India? Keep up the good work.

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shaheen: This site is good

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aksa: why are we distroying our lovely bird sparrow? Save our sparrow!

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Megha Vyas: This website is really informative and lovely. Cheers to those who are part of its creation.

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karthi: This site contains useful information.

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