‘Don’t Start With a Nest Box’: How One Man Is Helping 80+ Schools Bring Back Sparrows

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 provide everything a sparrow needs. Ganeshan says schools should think about the whole campus and the different things a bird needs during its daily life.

Nesting spaces

If buildings or other structures already have suitable nesting spaces, schools should protect them. Nest boxes can be considered where such opportunities are limited.

Food

Instead of making bird feeding the centre of the project, schools should focus on creating surroundings where birds can find natural food. Insects can be particularly important when adult sparrows are feeding their chicks.

Water

Clean, shallow water can be provided in a safe location. The school should change the water regularly and clean the container.

Plants and trees

Existing vegetation should be retained wherever possible. Schools can also introduce locally suitable plants that provide cover and support insects and other small organisms.

Safe movement

Birds need to move between feeding, resting, and nesting areas. Trees, shrubs, buildings and open spaces should therefore be considered together.

“A genuinely sparrow-friendly school campus is not just a campus where we install a few nest boxes. It should provide the basic conditions that a sparrow needs throughout its life cycle, food, water, shelter, nesting opportunities, and safe spaces for movement and breeding,” he tells The Better India.

Choose the nest box location carefully

There is no single height or direction that will work for every school. The sparrow conservationist says the right location depends on the individual campus and the birds already using it.

Before installing a box, schools should look at where sparrows are being seen, the vegetation nearby, exposure to sunlight and rain, human movement, and possible predator risks.

“People sometimes install nest boxes randomly because they believe that only adding these structures will automatically attract sparrows,” he says.

Instead, the box should become part of a suitable habitat.

Let the birds use the space

Students may naturally want to check a nest once they know that sparrows have moved in. But too much attention can disturb the birds. He says students should observe from a safe distance rather than repeatedly opening or touching an occupied nest.

“Nature does not require unnecessary human maintenance,” he says. “Our role should be to create or protect suitable conditions and then allow the birds to use them naturally.”

Students can still be involved. They can record when a box is occupied, watch birds entering and leaving from a distance, and note changes in the surrounding habitat. This can turn an ordinary nest box into an ongoing lesson in patience and observation.

Food does not mean a bird feeder

Putting out grain may look like an easy way to help sparrows, but Ganeshan believes schools should first look at whether the campus can provide natural food. He does not recommend human feeding as the main approach to sparrow conservation. Poorly managed feeding can create hygiene- and disease-related problems and may affect natural behaviour.

He is also cautious about suggesting that planting one particular tree is the solution. “It is quite difficult to classify a particular species and say that if you plant this tree, sparrows will definitely come and occupy the campus,” he says.

Instead, schools should retain existing vegetation and develop diverse, locally suitable plants. The aim is to create a healthier habitat rather than simply trying to attract one species.

What happened at a Chennai school

One example from Koodugal’s work comes from RPC Matriculation Higher Secondary School in North Chennai.

Around 150 sparrow nest boxes were installed across the campus. Within about six months, the team began seeing an encouraging response from house sparrows. The project soon became a learning exercise for the students.

They began watching where sparrows were active, how they behaved, and which parts of the campus appeared more suitable for nesting. Over around a year, they observed a substantial increase in sparrow activity and presence on the campus.

He describes this as a field observation from the organisation’s conservation work rather than a scientifically controlled population study.

The students also began thinking about what they had learnt beyond the school. Some were able to apply the same understanding when considering nesting opportunities around their homes.

Give children a role

Koodugal’s work in schools has shown the founder that children respond differently when they are given something practical to do.

Instead of only learning that sparrows are declining, they get to make a nest box, watch a bird use it, and record what happens.

The organisation has worked with more than 80 schools and several colleges and universities across Tamil Nadu, Kerala, and Karnataka.

Its work so far includes

• More than 15,000 nest boxes fabricated by students and issued to them
• Around 15,000 families reached directly and indirectly through house sparrow awareness
• More than 80 schools and several colleges and universities involved in sparrow conservation projects
• A 25 percent increase in the sparrow population in north Chennai over the past five years, based on Koodugal’s field observations

The sparrow conservationist says the changes among students are just as important as the numbers. Students have become more inquisitive about birds around them. Some have taken an interest in bird photography and documentation, while others have started observing birds at home.

“Instead of seeing a sparrow just as a bird, they began to understand it as a living part of the ecosystem that shares the same environment with us,” he says.

Turn it into a school club

If a school wants to continue the work beyond an environment day or one awareness programme, Ganeshan recommends creating a Sparrow Conservation or Biodiversity Club.

The responsibilities can be shared across the school. Students can record sightings, monitor nesting activity from a safe distance, photograph birds, and maintain easy records. Teachers can coordinate the programme, connect it with lessons, and make sure it continues when students move to another class.

Gardeners and maintenance staff can protect vegetation, avoid unnecessary disturbance around active nests, and report changes they notice. School management can provide space and support for the programme and encourage students to take part.

The club can keep track of sparrow sightings, nesting attempts, nest box occupancy, and changes in the campus habitat.

The records can help students understand whether their efforts are actually changing the campus.

What if the campus is mostly concrete?

Not every school has large grounds, mature trees, or a garden. For campuses with very little greenery, the sparrow conservationist says it is important not to assume that putting up nest boxes will automatically attract birds.

The school should first understand what is possible. It may be able to introduce small patches of suitable vegetation, retain existing plants, protect places where birds already visit or find ways to connect with green spaces around the campus.

“If the campus has major limitations, we would encourage the school to consult people with appropriate expertise in birds, ecology, or habitat management and develop a site-specific approach,” he says.

A small campus can still contribute to urban biodiversity, but the effort needs to match what the space can support.

From nest boxes to research

Ganeshan is now taking his work further through research.

In 2026, VIT, Vellore, gave him an opportunity to pursue research related to house sparrow conservation. He is understanding how technologies such as AI, sensing, image analysis, and sound analysis can support conservation.

Koodugal is also preparing to launch a mobile application that will allow people to document sparrow observations and their locations.

One feature under development is an AI-based bird vocalisation identification system. Users will be able to record bird sounds and use the technology to assist with identifying species. The system is being developed for different bird species, not only house sparrows.

For the founder, the research brings together his engineering education and the conservation work he has spent years pursuing.

Begin with a walk

For a student, teacher, or school principal who wants to start, the conservationist’s advice is easy to follow.

Do not begin by ordering a nest box.

Begin with a walk around the campus.

Then, look for sparrows and note where they sit. Check the trees, plants, and buildings for possible nesting spaces, find out where water is available, speak to the people who maintain the campus, and record what you see.

Only then decide what needs to change.

For a child, watching a sparrow move into a nest box may be the exciting part. But learning what brought the bird there, what it needs to stay, and how a small patch of school grounds can become part of its home may be the lesson that lasts much longer.

All pictures courtesy Koodugal Trust.

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