Usage of Nest Materials of House Sparrow (Passer domesticus) Along an Urban to Rural Gradient in Coimbatore, India

Abstract

The house sparrow (Passer domesticus) is a widely distributed bird species found throughout the world. Being a species which has close association with humans, they chiefly nest on man-made structures. Here we describe the materials used by the house sparrow for making nests along an urban to rural gradient. For the current study, we selected the Coimbatore to Anaikatty road (State Highway-164), a 27 km inter-state highway, which traverses along an urban core to rural outstretch of Coimbatore. Of the 30 nests observed, 15 nests were from the rural, 8 were from the suburban, and 7 were from the urban areas. The nests had two distinct layers, specifically the structural layer and the inner lining. In the current study, we identified 11 plant species, 2 types of animal matter, and 6 types of anthropogenic matter, including plastic pieces and fine rope. The amount of anthropogenic materials in the nest formation varied along the gradients. The usage of anthropogenic materials was high in urban areas (p<0.05) whereas it did not differ at the sub-urban regions (p>0.05). A gradual decrease in the usage of plant matter towards the urban area was noticed (p<0.05). This study explicitly documents the links between nest material usage along an urban to rural gradient, in a human associated bird.

Burung ciak rumah (Passer domesticus) merupakan spesies burung yang tersebar luas di seluruh dunia. Spesies ini mempunyai perhubungan yang dekat dengan manusia, maka ia bersarang atas struktur-struktur buatan manusia. Di sini, kami menerangkan tentang bahan-bahan yang digunakan oleh burung ciak rumah untuk membina sarang sepanjang gradien kawasan bandar ke luar bandar. Untuk kajian ini, kami telah memilih jalan Coimbatore ke Anaikatty (State Highway-164), satu jalan lebuh raya 27 km panjang, yang melalui satu kawasan bandar ke luar bandar di Coimbatore. Daripada 30 sarang yang diperhatikan, 15 merupakan dari kawasan luar bandar, 8 daripada kawasan subbandar, dan 7 dari kawasan bandar. Sarang-sarang tersebut mempunyai 2 lapisan jelas, iaitu lapisan struktural dan lapisan dalaman. Dalam kajian ini, kami telah mengenal pasti 11 spesies tumbuhan, 2 jenis bahan haiwan, dan 6 jenis bahan antropogenik, termasuk kepingan plastik dan tali halus. Bilangan bahan antropogenik berbeza mengikut gradien kawasan. Penggunaan bahan antropogenik tinggi di kawasan bandar (p<0.05) manakala tidak ada perbezaan nyata di kawasan-kawasan subbandar (p>0.05). Satu pengurangan beransur penggunaan bahan tumbuhan mengarah ke kawasan bandar telah dikenal pasti (p<0.05). Kajian ini telah menunjukkan perhubungan antara penggunaan bahan untuk membina sarang sepanjang gradien kawasan bandar ke luar bandar, untuk burung yang berkaitan rapat dengan manusia.