Who let the Sparrows out?

I remember when I was a kid, I lived in a house in Bangalore which had a huge garden. As a corollary, our backyard used to be frequented by various different birds ranging from crows, pigeons, humming birds and last but not the least the then ubiquitous House Sparrow.


The House sparrow (Passer domesticus), the small brown and gray bird, which would come down the moment my mother would toss out some rice grains. I can still picture the sparrow, turning its head from one direction to another, trying to gather as many grains of rice it could eat. The high frequency short chirps it used to make are still vivid in my imagination.

But off late I don't see these birds in Bangalore anymore, for that matter I don't see it in Chennai too. Where have they all gone? Have they deserted the cities? Have they gone in search of "grainier" pastures? It is so surprising that once so abundant sparrow is hardly been seen now in the cities.

Who let the Sparrows out? :-)