A show of colourful foreign pet birds was held at Sher-e-Bangla Agricultural University (SAU) in the capital on Friday (10 March), at the university's Sheikh Russel Student-Teacher Centre.

It was organised by Avian Community, a social media-based pet bird group. Some 600 breeders displayed their birds, about 1,500 birds of 25 species in all. The show ran from 9am to 7pm.

Birds competed in five categories, and 15 were declared winners and given certificates and crests. Avian Community members brought their pet birds from different parts of the country. The organisers said the show was held to encourage young people to keep birds and so keep them away from drugs.

Ahsan Raj, owner of the Angry Bird BD pet shop in Katabon, said there is strong demand for hobby pet birds in Bangladesh. Where all birds once had to be brought from abroad, they are now being produced in the country through breeding.

He said the show had drawn a good response. "I brought a macaw. It is a South American breed, and the hopeful thing is that breeding has started in Bangladesh too. A macaw can talk exactly like a person, and it grows up the way you train it. So people keep them like their own children."

Young Zisan, who came from Banani with his mother, said: "I saw many kinds of birds. I will start keeping birds at home."

Ali Chowdhury, president of Avian Community Bangladesh, told Jago News the event aimed to popularise and organise cage birds, not those from forests or shops, across the country. Beyond a hobby, it has strong potential for earning foreign currency, he said. Many cage birds are now exported abroad, and they want to turn foreign bird-keeping into an industry in Bangladesh with government patronage.

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