He wakes up to the song of 200 sparrows every day

| TNN |
Bengaluru: Today if you want to see sparrows in Bengaluru, the best place to go is Gospel Street in St Thomas Town near Lingarajpuram. You will be welcomed by chirping of hundreds of sparrows around the house of Edwin Joseph, a retired BEML employee - as if all the sparrows that have vanished from Bengaluru, have assembled here.

Fondly known as the "Sparrow man" in the neighborhood, Edwin, 65, has been nurturing the sparrows for years. And his house compound is nothing short of a bird sanctuary with over 200 sparrows assembling there every day.

While the little birds have been slowly disappearing over the past few decades owing to rapid urbanization, the number of sparrows visiting Edwin's house has been going up.

"It was abou t 12 years ago. My wife, Sarah, saw a few sparrows in our compound to feed on the disposed off rice granules and enjoy the tree shade. We started loving them and started putting more grains. And their numbers started growing. Once we constructed a house at a vacant space, I realized, the birds can't survive without tree cover. I planted saplings which grew up to give them shelter at night. Today I wake up to the chirping of hundreds of sparrows," he added.

Sarah, 65, explains they have put up artificial nest like pot so that sparrows can lay eggs, and 10 feeders wherein they can feed their little ones. "Also, we have created a rain shelter for them. We have a schedule to feed them, like grains at 7 am, rice and chapati at 9 am, snacks like mixture at 11 am, etc. We also give them Indian sweets. This schedule will help people who occupy the house after we pass away," she added.

Edwin terms his act a part of humanity and that there's nothing special about it. "To bring back sparrows to Bengaluru, we should take out some time to care for them. Keeping little food (grains) and water outside your house and balconies can invite birds. If people say they don't have time for this, I think it's a stupid excuse," he added.