| ID | 8756 |
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| Q1. Name of locality or area you are reporting about | Big Manigar street, Chengalpattu town,Tamilnadu state |
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| Rough Address/Area | Big manigar Street, Chengalpattu town,Tamil Nadu |
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| City/District | Kancheepursm Dt |
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| State | Tamil Nadu |
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| Location Latitude | 11.12712288 |
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| Location Longitude | 78.65689087 |
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| Q3. What time period are you reporting about? | 1980-1984 |
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| Q4. What kind of general area are you reporting about? | Town |
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| Q5. What kind of locality is/was this in the time period chosen above? | Old residential area |
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| Q6. Roughly how large is the locality/area from which you are reporting sparrows? | Less than 100 metres across (eg, a few houses or shops) |
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| Q7. How well do/did you know this place in the time period chosen above? | I lived there |
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| Q8. How frequently did you see House Sparrows in the time period and locality/area chosen above? | Always: I saw sparrows every day |
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| Q9. When you did see House Sparrows in this time period and locality/area, how many did you typically see? | A fair number: When I saw sparrows, there were usually between 5 and 30 birds |
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| Q10. If House Sparrows are/were present in this time period and locality/area, did you observe active nests? | Nests seen frequently |
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| Q11. Would you like to share a story about House Sparrows from this time period? | I grew up in the small town, Chengalpattu 65 kms south of Chennai.
I was born in 1953. Until I left it for Chennai in 1983 I was living in the same house.
From childhood I had shared my house with sparrows.
Sparrows had built nests on the grandfather clock, gaps between ceiling rafters and in the corners of open indoor electrical wires in our house.
The sight of the sparrows shooting like arrows into our house through the front verandah grills and open windows with straw in their beaks to build their nests is etched indlibly in my mind.
From my observations I think sparrow pairs live as life long companions.
Their untiring industry and their protective attitude towards their young ones is a treat to watch.
Whenever I used to get onto a high stool to wind the clock and if there were young ones in the nest ,the parents used to chirp agitatedly fearing for their little ones.
How much care they take of their little ones!
They used to feed the children untiringly .
It was amazing to watch how wonderfully supportive the parents were goading and overseeing the first steps and fledgling flight of the little ones when they were ready to enter the wide open world.
In those days People never used to close the windows of their houses allowing the sparrows unbridled access to the insides of the houses.
with households having stocks of paddy straw as cowfeed there was no dearth of building material for these lovable little birds.
I was wonderstruck by their concern for the comfort of their offspring - they cushion their nests with cotton balls,soft feathers etc!How intelligent these birds are!
It was poignant to see them sleeping in the crevices near the ceilings in the house sharing our bedroom with us.
Their life is a lesson to us humans.
I long for those times and for the sight of thsoe little beautiful birds.
It is the duty of every one of us to protect the sparrows and allow them their right to share this globe with us.
R.sridharan |
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| Q12. What kind of buildings are/were present during this time period in this locality? | |
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| Q13. Please describe this locality/area in your words. | |
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| Q14. Does or did anyone feed sparrows in this locality/area, or put out nestboxes? | |
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| Q15. If this is an agricultural area, what are the main crops grown? | |
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| Q16. How much green space exists/existed in this locality? | |
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| Q17. If you have seen sparrow nests, where were they? | |
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| Q18. When did mobile phone coverage arrive at this locality? | |
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