It can be said, without contradiction, that no matter where you are in the world, the Sparrow in its various forms, is perhaps the most common of birds to be seen, and a species that has just been taken for granted by us all over the centuries.The simple Sparrow will have been pecking for crumbs around the tables of the Roman Emperors and their Legions, in the stable in Bethlehem when Christ was born, and around the crosses at Calvary. They will also have been looking for food at the time the Pyramids were being build in Egypt.
Even now, Sparrows will appear, as if from nowhere, to scavenge the leftovers on tables of street cafés and restaurants in cities, towns and villages around the world. Their whole survival seems to be inextricably linked with human society, no matter from which century, class, creed or geographical location.
In my travels over the years, I have seen Sparrows in the hottest parts of the Saudi Arabian deserts and North African deserts, sitting with their beaks wide open as they cope with temperatures well above 50 deg C, whilst I and other mere mortals struggle with the heat and humidity.
They survive in the colder climates, and are to be found, pecking the ground on the Great Wall of China in winter, when temperatures drop to minus 15 deg C and in summer, can reach 35 deg C.
Even now, in May, as I write these notes, Sparrows are in the garden outside my hotel room in a Gulf State in the Middle East, sipping water from the garden sprinklers and hunting for grubs in the lush vegetation that has been created artificially, despite an outside air temperature of 38 deg C, and it isn't even summer yet !
This lush vegetation also encourages other species, such as the Hoopoe, a Dove sized bird with a distinctive plume and long curved beak. There is also to be seen, small, attractive Finch type birds that are about half the size of Sparrows ; a prodigious number of black and white birds, similar to our common Starling and smaller numbers of pairs of Doves. Gecko Lizards can sometimes be seen climbing the base trunks of the date palms in this artificial oasis.
I have seen Sparrows in the Favelas (notoriously dangerous slum districts of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil), on the slopes of the Andes in Chile, amongst the detritus of hundreds of years of life and tourists in the wonders of India, to the primitive life in Bangladesh. On one occasion I was in Malaysia and had been to the town of Port Klang, on the coast west of Kuala Lumpur.
In the early evening, when we were leaving Port Klang, or PK, as it is known locally, we met the inevitable traffic jam and progressed slowly over a bridge, where some Sparrows were pecking the ground. I asked the driver "what do you call those small birds?", thinking they would have some splendid, Malay name. He looked at me quizzically, and in perfect English said they were "Sparrows" and "hadn't I seen Sparrows before ?"
The Sparrows I have seen on my travels seem to be the House Sparrow, the male has a distinctive black flash on its chest whereas the female has a plain, light grey chest. They remain drab in appearance but obviously tenacious in spirit.
The streets and habitation of every city, town and village around the world will be a home to the humble Sparrow, but now, for some, as yet unexplained reason, they are under threat and their numbers diminishing in our gardens, parks and towns.
A couple of years ago, when I was in Egypt, I was given a small, but informative book entitled "Pharaohs' Birds", which, amongst many descriptions, includes references to the various types of Sparrow found in North Africa. Reference is also made to the prodigious flocks once seen over the verdant banks of the Nile, but their numbers seem to have declined over the years, as agricultural chemicals became more prevalent in use, not only by the Nile farmers, but elsewhere in the world.
The RSPB have a campaign underway to monitor the numbers of House Sparrows in the UK and to try to understand why such a small, insignificant creature is on the decline in our modern and fast moving world.
It would be a disaster not to see Sparrows in our gardens and hedgerows, especially when they have survived, throughout countless centuries, the catastrophes and mayhem of our own doing and that of nature itself.
There are far more attractive and splendid species of birds in the world, and many are a joy to watch, but for me, the humble Sparrow has become a simple and honest companion, and I find it very comforting to see them appear, no matter where my travels take me.
Bernard Dennis MBE
May 2003