Population status of house sparrow (Passer domesticus L.) and its association with native bird species in and around Dehradun City of Uttarakhand, India

Abstract

Recent studies have indicated a significant decline in the population of the house sparrow (Passer domesticus L.) at the global level. In India also, the house sparrow population is being drastically decreased. Considering the issue, an attempt has been made to monitor the current status of house sparrows across Dehradun City of Uttarakhand from 2017 to 2019. The line transect method was used for bird surveys in the three habitats (high-density urban area, low-density urban area, and suburban area). The results showed that the population of house sparrows was significantly higher in the suburban area (84.19 ± 8.05) as compared to those in high-density (12.75 ± 2.02) and low-density (42.97 ± 4.74) urban areas. Similarly, the number of active nests was also found higher in a suburban area as compared to other areas. Additionally, a total of 87 co-occurring avian species were observed in the study area with maximum avian diversity reported in low-density (H = 2.85) followed by suburban (H = 2.67) and high-density urban areas (H = 2.12) respectively. This study suggested that the regular monitoring of house sparrows and co-occurring avian species is important to understand the population trend of the house sparrow in the study area.