People regard him as the ‘Nest Man of India’. But among the avian community, he’s their favourite architect. To know why, turn your gaze to the 7,30,000 nests, sprawled across the country’s urban landscape, all built by Rakesh Khatri. His initial nest-making efforts in 2008 were met with critique — “Sparrows build their own nests. What makes you think they’ll choose yours?” But he continued to scour his home city of Delhi, laden with jute and rope. The first-ever nest he set up was in the city’s Mayur Vihar area.

Enthusiasm soon gave way to scepticism. But all doubts were dispelled in a couple of days by a chorus of chirps that came from within the nest. The home’s new occupants seemed pleased.

Through the last 14 years, magpies, robins, sparrows and bulbuls have found comfort in these dwellings that Rakesh has been engineering. The 63-year-old environmentalist is hopeful for a resurgence in bird numbers, especially those of the house sparrow, which according to a national-level assessment, is on the decline across six metro cities: Bengaluru, Chennai, Delhi, Hyderabad, Kolkata, and Mumbai.

Losing sparrows will have a cascading effect that will impact the entire ecosystem. While cellphone towers are the most popular culprits, the report suggested that a paucity of nests might also be to blame.

The ‘Earth Champion’ who is ensuring sparrows make a comeback to the cities

Think back to your childhood and you’ll find the house sparrow intricately intertwined into most stories you’ve grown up hearing. But their roles are more than fabled. The sparrows have enjoyed a bird’s eye view........

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