Comparative Nesting Materials Used By House Sparrow Passer Domesticus Indicus In Urban And Rural Areas Of Jammu Region

Research Article
Rajan Singh, Sumit Koul, Esha Chiband Meena Kumari
DOI: 
xxx-xxxxx-xxxx
Subject: 
science
KeyWords: 
Plant matter, animal matter, synthetic matter, rural, urban
Abstract: 

Nesting materials used by House sparrow Passer domesticus indicus was identified and compared in rural (N=45 nests) and urban (N=25 nests) areas of Jammu region in 2009 and 2011 respectively. Jammu lies between 320 27’ and 330 50” North latitudes and 740 19” and 750 20” East longitudes. The nesting materials (plant, animal and synthetic) were sorted, identified and weighted with Digital Electronic Balance. Different components of nesting material were compared using One-way ANOVA and computed on a Burroughs 6700 using SPSS programs and Microsoft Excel 2007 version and online software used by Soper. Average weight of nest was found as 119.7 gm in urban areas and 86.2 gm in rural areas as nesting sites in urban nesting sites were found not convenient and they have to make bigger nests and have to put more efforts as compared to rural areas. Plant matter was found dominant component both in rural areas 82.9% and urban areas 82.1%. The straw and hay of grasses and cereals were found to be dominant in all the nests. Leaves of Melia azadarachta were also found in four nests. Animal matter collected was 13.3 % in rural area and 12.7% in urban areas. Synthetic matter was found 3.8% in rural area and 5.2% in urban areas. In animal components the bird feathers were found as the most frequent animal component. When plant matter, animal matter and synthetic matter were compared using One-way ANOVA difference among nest components were found highly significant for all the three size parameters both in rural and urban areas (P<0.05 for rural areas and P>< 0.05 for urban areas).