The Resilient Birds of Bangladesh

Bio-diversity : The Resilient Birds of Bangladesh
by Enam Ul Haque
Bangladesh Bird Club

Once a Bideshi member of our Bird Club proposed a fancy bird-watching trip to America. A Bengali member, boastful of superior birding opportunities in Bangladesh, responded: ‘Who would care to spend a good bird-watching season where there is only one species of kingfisher’! The Bideshi lamented: ‘I know, America doesn’t have 11 species of kingfishers like Bangladesh’! He said nothing about the humming birds and other gems of America! He knew how to fan the pride of a Bangladeshi birdwatcher!

Patriotism aside, there are good reasons for a Bangladeshi to be proud of the great variety of birds of this country. Bangladesh is still rich as far as the diversities of birds are concerned. While the diversity of mammals and reptiles declined due to the loss of habitat, the resilient bird-life of Bangladesh has not suffered too much. Many observers are astonished to find this small and heavily populated country still sustaining such a diversity of bird-life, especially of kingfishers, herons, egrets, bitterns, storks and other water-birds.

There are several factors that give birds an edge over the other wild creatures in the game of survival in evershrinking habitat. Many birds are very good at sharing habitat with humans and can proliferate with them. Birds colonize the newly formed islands and freshly surfacing mudflats much before we do. In this world of mud and water, not amenable to human exploitations, a great number of water-birds thrive.

We don’t know exactly how many species of birds we have. Our estimate is 650, half the number of birds of the entire sub-continent. We have seen and documented 575 species of birds in the recent years. But, that’s only from the 20 favorite sites. Bangladesh is still a underwatched country. We are yet to visit many a place in the Sunderbans and the Hill Districts where the other 75 species of birds may pop up any day.

Our bird-watching tours to the emerging off-shore islands and the lakes of the north-east called Haor have always been very rewarding. We went to the Tagua Haor in Sunamganj District for a bird-watching trip recently. We saw 5 species of resident ducks of Bangladesh and 15 species of migratory ducks. There were 35 species of shore-birds and other water-birds sharing the habitat with the ducks. What was most impressive was their population. One count put the population to half a million. We were more pleased to see a large number of globally endangered ducks: Baer’s Pochard and’Ferruginous Pochard. We counted about 90,000 of those pochards there. That was probably the largest concentration of those endangered birds anywhere in the world. We also saw 8 nests of Pallas’s Fish Eagle, another endangered bird.

Tangua Haor is a veritable bio-diversity hot spot in Bangladesh. As the wintering ground of Baer’s and’Ferruginous Pochards and the breeding ground of Pallas’s Fish Eagle, all being endangered birds, this Haor is of international importance. Bangladesh has designated it a Ramsar Site and is committed to the protection and maintenance of the natural properties of this unique ecosystem. Tangua Haor also has a high ecotourism potential as a bird sanctuary.

Source: UN in Bangladesh