Abstract
The House Sparrow Passer domesticus is widely distributed across the world, and local alarming declines in sparrow populations have prompted studies focused on this species. An understanding of fundamental life history aspects such as roosting patterns is necessary for the development of efficient conservation strategies. This study examined House Sparrow roosting patterns in urban, suburban and rural areas of Bhavnagar during 2017–2018. Potential roosting sites were identified, and peak arrival/ departure times and roosting duration of sparrows were recorded. We found that peak arrival and departure times were correlated with solar timings, indicating a strong influence of photoperiod on sparrow behaviour. Little variation was observed in sparrow arrival and departure times across the urban, suburban and rural gradient. However, arrival duration was significantly larger in urban and suburban areas. This may be due to the restricted availability of suitable patches within these habitats, requiring birds to spend more time foraging. House Sparrows mostly preferred thick vegetation for pre-roosting activities and roosting, and the loss of thick vegetation poses a threat to sparrow populations worldwide. In addition to increasing nesting opportunities by providing artificial nest sites, the importance of retaining appropriate habitats should be a major focus of conservation strategies.
Highlights
The House Sparrow Passer domesticus is one of the most widely distributed avian species on Earth, possibly due to its adaptation to human settlements
Often large numbers of sparrows aggregate at night shelter and form a significant communal roost which can be identified from a distance by pronounced roosting vocalization of the sparrows
While arrival duration was significantly larger in urban and suburban gradients, such variation in the arrival duration could be explained by multiple factors such as restricted availability of suitable patches, lack of suitable foraging grounds near roost sites, and the presence of raptor birds
Summary
The House Sparrow Passer domesticus is one of the most widely distributed avian species on Earth, possibly due to its adaptation to human settlements. Significant declines in its populations have recently been reported from many parts of the world (Gulati 2005). These declines have prompted studies of sparrow breeding biology worldwide (Gokula et al 2014). Roosting is one of the fundamental life history traits of avian species. Small passerine birds such as sparrows roost communally, which confers many probable advantages as well as disadvantages to the birds. A large communal roost attracts potential predators due to significant vocalization (Beauchamp 1999). The aforementioned studies, stress the importance of investigating the roosting ecology of birds
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