Bhubaneswar: In a significant step towards wildlife conservation, the Wildlife Foundation based in Bhubaneswar has successfully conducted Odisha’s first-ever house sparrow census.
According to the survey carried out during 2025-26, a total of 83,576 house sparrows were identified across the state. The highest concentration was recorded in Sonepur district, which alone accounted for over 30,000 sparrows. The survey revealed that the number of sparrows is significantly lower in coastal districts of Odisha, while their population is much higher in western Odisha.
Founder of the Wildlife Foundation, Pramod Dhal, stated that the census clearly shows a regional variation in sparrow distribution, with western parts of the state supporting larger populations compared to the coastal regions.
The survey was conducted in the districts such as Mayurbhanj, Ganjam, Khordha, Koraput, Sambalpur, Balangir, Jharsuguda, Cuttack, Puri, Kendrapara, Jagatsinghpur, Bhadrak, and Balasore.
This pioneering initiative by the Wildlife Foundation aims to generate baseline data on the house sparrow population in Odisha. House sparrows, once extremely common even in urban areas, have been declining globally due to habitat loss, urbanisation, pollution, and reduction in insect food sources.
