In winter, the chars of the coastal district of Bhola used to ring with the calls of migratory birds from Mongolia, Siberia, Tibet and other countries. But over the past two years migratory birds on the chars have fallen by 70 percent. Food shortage, hunters, climate change, people moving through habitats and environmental factors are blamed.

M A Muhit, a member of the Bangladesh Bird Club's bird census team, gave the information.

He said a joint count by the Bangladesh Bird Club, the Forest Department's Sustainable Forests and Livelihoods (SUFAL) project, the Prokriti O Jibon Foundation and the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) ran for nine days, from 9 to 17 January, on 60 chars in Barishal, Patuakhali, Noakhali, Lakshmipur and Bhola. It found 33,064 waterbirds of 58 species.

Of these, 10,065 birds were counted from the Kheyaghat in Bhola Sadar to Char Bhelumia, Char Patila, Dhal Char, Shibpur, Kukri-Mukri, Char Shahjalal, Char Monpura, Char Montaj, Sonar Char, Char Nizam and around Nijhum Dwip.

He said a coastal survey in 2000 counted about one lakh birds, which fell to 33,064 in 2022. Food shortage, hunters, climate change, people moving through habitats and various environmental factors were cited as the main causes.

Source: Jagonews24. First published in Bengali on The Agro News.