Winged guests seem to have shown little interest about Hakaluki Haor, one of the country’s biggest haors and a protected Ramsar site, as fewer of them have visited it this year compared to previous years due to local disturbances, loss of habitats and food crisis. According to a joint survey conducted by the Climate-Resilient Ecosystems and Livelihoods project of the Department of Environment and IUCN Red List Unit, the number of water birds has dropped almost to one-third this winter compared to that of the same season three years back. The new survey recorded only 23,041 water birds of 61 species in different beels of the haor during the survey while the number was 64,282 during the last survey in 2011. The team carried out the waterfowl census in about 21 beels of Hakaluki Haor spreading over Moulvibazar and Sylhet districts, including Foota Beel, Halla Roost, Hawa Bonna, Khangli Beel, Kukurdubi, Maisla, Polobhang, Gorkori, Nagoa, Tolar Beel, Chenaura Beel, Digar Beel, Katua Beel, Chatla and Paroti Beel, during February 10-11 last. The survey was conducted as part of Asian Waterfowl Census Programme. The team members included founder of Bangladesh Bird Club Enam Ul Haq, vice presidents of Bangladesh Birds Club Paul M Thompson and Syam U Chodhury, assistant programme officer of IUCN Red List Unit ABM Sarowar Alam Dipu, British ornithologists Bill Jons and Steav and natural resources management specialist Basir Ahmed. Despite a significant fall of the winged visitors, some rare species of birds were found in the Hakaluki Haor this year. Those are Oriental Darter, Black-crowned Night Heron, Cinnamon Bittern, Painted Stork, Glossy Ibis, Bar-headed Goose, Greylag Goose, Eurasian Teal, Eurasian Wigeon, Red-crested Pochard, Baer’s Pochard, Ruddy breasted crake, Black-winged Stilt, Wood Sandpiper, Pintail Snipe, Barn Swallow, White-throated kingfisher and Peregrine falcon. Also were seen in plenty, the Little Cormorant (4,086), Little Egret, Yellow-billed Egret, Grey Heron, Great Egret, Cattle Egret, Unid egret, Asian Open-bill stork, Black-headed Ibis, Lesser whistling Duck, Fulvous whistling Duck, Cotton Pygmy-goose, Ruddy shelduck, Northern Pintail, Gadwall, Common Pochard, Tufted Duck, Ferruginous Duck, Eurasian Coot, Grey-headed Lapwing, Spotted Redshank, Temmink’s Stint and Little Grebe. The migratory birds flock more to the wetlands of Bangladesh this year, but they avoid Hakaluki Haor due to loss of its habitats and rampant local disturbance, bird expert of IUCN Bangladesh Sarowar Alam Dipu told UNB. He said the haor has lost habitats due to leasing system in the water bodies of the wetland introduced by the government as the leasers frequently catch fishes from the water bodies, destroying the aquatic vegetation in Hakaluki Haor. “So, the migratory birds face food crisis in the haor prompting them to avoid it.” The local people are also not aware of the winged visitors, Dipu said, the community guarding must be strengthened to conserve the haor aiming to attract the migratory birds to visit it. The migratory birds move to relatively warmer swampy lands to escape the freezing cold, and feed on snails and tiny fishes, which are abundant during winter in haors, baors and the swamps in coastal areas. Usually, birds start arriving in early November and stay till March-April. At the onset of winter, the Siberian birds spread their wings to take flight of thousands of kilometres all the way from Siberia. The migratory maps show that they start their journey from Siberia, travel through Afghanistan and Central Asia before arriving at the famed bird sanctuaries of Bangladesh and India. These birds travel to a number of wetlands, including Hakaluki and Tanguar hoars. – UNB
