Walk through an old neighbourhood, and you may still hear the familiar chirping of house sparrows around balconies, tiled roofs, and small gardens. You may see them hopping along a ledge, picking at grains, or disappearing into a wall gap to build a nest.

For many children growing up in cities, however, such sights are becoming less familiar.

As urban spaces change, sparrows can struggle to find the food, water, and nesting spaces they need. This makes schools an interesting place to begin conservation. A campus may not have acres of land, but even a small space can become more welcoming to birds if it has the right conditions.

Ganeshan, popularly known as Koodugal Ganeshan, has spent years helping schools understand how they can do this.

The 38-year-old comes from a small village in Krishnagiri district, Tamil Nadu, where around 40 families live. There were no government offices, primary school, post office, anganwadi, or even a small shop in his village. Growing up close to nature gave him an early connection with the rural ecosystem around him.

He went on to complete undergraduate and postgraduate degrees in mechanical engineering and worked across education, manufacturing, and IT. His work with sparrows began in 2014, when he was a student volunteer at Sri Venkateswara College of Engineering in Sriperumbudur.

“I started taking conservation work into schools in 2020, engaging students directly through awareness, nest box preparation, and practical conservation activities,” he says.

The work eventually led to Koodugal Trust, which focuses on environmental sustainability and house sparrow conservation.

Today, he has worked with more than 80 educational institutions across Tamil Nadu, Kerala, and Karnataka. More than 15,000 nest boxes have been fabricated by students and issued to them, while around 15,000 families have received awareness about house sparrows directly or indirectly.

For the sparrow conservationist, though, the most important part of the work is not the number of boxes installed. It is helping children understand what a bird needs to live.

Start by looking around

If a school wants to make its campus friendlier to sparrows, he says it should resist the urge to immediately put up a nest box. Instead, students and teachers should first spend time observing what is already there.

“We would suggest that a school first understand what is already present on the campus before adding anything,” he says.

A campus assessment can begin with a few questions.

Are there trees, shrubs, grasses, and other plants?

Where are sparrows and other birds already being seen?

Are there existing spaces in buildings where birds could nest?

Are there open areas where birds can move and search for food?

Is there a clean and safe source of water?

Are there plants and other natural features that support insects and other small organisms?

Are there areas where birds may face disturbance or predators?

The school can also record the different bird species seen on campus. This gives students a starting point against which they can compare changes later.

“The starting question is not how many nest boxes can we install,” says the conservationist. “It is what does this campus currently provide for sparrows, what is missing, and what can we improve?”

Create a place where sparrows can live

A nest box can provide a nesting space, but it cannot........

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