BENGALURU: In an inconspicuous corner of Bagalur Layout in Bengaluru, lives the city’s ‘Sparrow Man’. Edwin Joseph, 72, is visited by a host of sparrows, squirrels, a few pigeons and even bulbuls, and he is popular both as the sparrow whisperer and a Good Samaritan.
For almost 15 years now, Edwin has woken up to the chirping of sparrows at his window. He feeds them millets and sometimes khara mixture, rice, roti, and anything that is cooked for the household.
“I have tried to get an expert to show me how to improve taking care of the birds and to identify them properly apart from the knowledge in guidebooks... but I’ve had no luck so far... so I do what I can,” he says. Much of the work done for the sparrows and other wildlife creatures he gets in his little slice of old Bengaluru was done by him. Overhead,
Edwin has multiple feeders, filled to the brim with millets. Below them, plates with millet husks discarded by the little birds. During the monsoon, he attaches a wooden plank to the feeders to give the birds a place to sit peacefully.
Within the same compound is another house that he rents out. Along the bottom of its balcony is a place where birds built nests. Pointing towards a few coconut shells hanging from the ceiling, he says,
“I got those sent to me by a Class 5 boy. He told me that he had heard of my sparrows and made a few nests out of coconut shells.” Outside, there are large pots for small trees, enough to create a sizable canopy for the sparrows to hide in and play. There’s a fenced shelter to prevent airborne threats like hawks.
“It is interesting. I know when to run out and chase the hawk away because the minute it appears, the chirping stops,” he laughs.
To expand the greenery on the roof of the sparrow enclave he has created on the front portion of his house, his daughter and grandchildren has set up green bottles hanging from the shelter, housing small creepers.
A stranger to no one, Edwin has no end to the help he gets. Everyone walking past his house receives a friendly hello and wave and reciprocates. He jokes with the girls from the local government school who get spoken English classes from him. In addition, he also teaches at local schools, feeds the poor and takes care of homeless senior citizens.
“This shouldn’t be considered charity work. It is our duty as citizens to serve others,” he elaborates. Alongside his career as a master skilled technician at Bharat Earth Movers Limited (BEML), Edwin was also a star athlete having won several national and state-wide awards in running and football. Prior to the Covid-19 pandemic, he also coached local children.
Similarly, as a part of the local Sagayarapuram ward committee and president of his street’s resident welfare association, he has undertaken several other works not only for the betterment of the birds and local wildlife but also for his neighbours. One of his major concerns is the disappearance of sparrows from Bengaluru. “We used to get around 200 of them each day... now the number has dipped to 80. Issues like installation of private mobile phone towers have aggravated the problem,” he rues. For months, Edwin campaigned to remove a private mobile phone tower installed in the area.
The installation of towers contributes to slight radiation levels that have a definite effect on the local bird population with radiation affecting smaller birds. After months of following up with local authorities and confronting the installation crew himself, he successfully stopped the installation of the tower.
“Government officials always vow to help in the run up to the International Sparrow Day. But interest always dies down. It is a lovely bird. Why the government isn’t bothered about saving them is unknown. It is disheartening. Sometimes, families come here and the parents point out to their children saying, ‘look this is a sparrow’ because the children have not seen the beautiful birds before.”
While still hopeful, Edwin is unsure if the sparrow population will last more than five years. “There needs to be more government involvement and education among the youth on identifying and showing them the wonders of the birds,” he concludes.