Mumbai: The house sparrow, once the most commonly sighted bird in the country, is gradually losing its presence in the urban landscape. According to the Common Bird Monitoring of India (CBMI), a year-old initiative of environment organization Nature Forever Society, the sparrow is now the fourth most common bird in the country. The CBMI identified 794 locations in the country where rock pigeons are found, 822 locations where crows were often spotted, 743 where common mynas were spotted, and only 494 locations where house sparrows were seen in the last one year. CBMI observations also showed that Mumbai has the highest number of pigeons and crows in the country, while the presence of sparrows is almost half of their numbers. On World Sparrow Day on Wednesday, ecologists and nature lovers lamented this change. “The city has many kabutarkhanas where abundance of grain has given an artificial boost to the number of pigeons. And, the open garbage provides a lot of food for the crows. Pigeons can subsist on grain and produce pigeon milk to feed their young ones. But it is not the same with sparrows,” said Mohammed Dilawar from the Nature Forever Society. Sparrows feed insects to their young. But the loss of green cover and open grounds in the city has led to a decline in the number of insects. Also, sparrows need nests, unlike pigeons. Sparrows require sheltered corners and trees to make a home. “There has been a fall in the number of nesting sites. Until sparrows and other small birds have little green patches, even derelict and overgrown little corners, where they can catch insects, it would be difficult for them to survive,” said naturalist, writer and photographer Sunjoy Monga. The change in urban architecture, characterized by small enclosed houses, wire meshed windows and lack of green space has left very little shelter for sparrows to nest. “I feel the sparrow may have reached the peak of having made the most of its association and commensalism on humanity and will possibly stabilise to a different level under a different set of conditions now,”added Monga. On World Sparrow Day, the Nature Forever Society launched a campaign where people can observe sparrows in their area for 15 minutes and report it on its website. People can also report nonsightings of the bird.