By Niamur Rashid Shihab

Is the doel, Bangladesh's national bird, heading for extinction? It appears on the two-taka note, but the bird itself is seldom seen. Many kinds of birds can still be found in villages, fields, forests and trees, but the familiar doel is now very scarce. Pollution in forest areas, indiscriminate tree felling, reckless use of pesticides on farmland, loss of the birds' habitat, food shortages and climate change are thought to be pushing it towards extinction.

The doel belongs to the order Passeriformes (perching birds). Its scientific name is Copsychus saularis. Its Bengali name resembles its French and Dutch names: in French it is called Shama dayal and in Dutch Dayallijster. Its classification is kingdom Animalia, phylum Chordata, class Aves, order Passeriformes, family Muscicapidae, genus Copsychus, species C. saularis.

Several elderly people in Ratondi village of Galachipa upazila, Patuakhali, said that until a few years ago people woke only to birdsong. The doel, parrot, myna, cuckoo, shalik, sparrow and other native birds perched in the beels and marshes, bushes, branches, gardens and courtyard trees of the villages, and their songs charmed everyone.

They say the chirping and whistling of these birds still seem to ring in their ears. The birds once seen almost all the time on bamboo, mango branches, drumstick trees and rooftops in the morning, afternoon and evening are hardly seen now. Small numbers of parrots, doves, herons, crows and kingfishers can still be found in towns and villages, but the national bird, the doel, is not.

Bird lovers say the doel and many other species are now heading for extinction. Birds are being hunted indiscriminately, and cutting down forests is upsetting the balance of the environment, so the birds' range is shrinking. Excessive pesticide use on crops is also reducing the areas where they live, driving them towards extinction. Unless strict steps are taken now to protect the environment, it will be hard to save the birds.

Concerned citizens believe quick action is needed to control excessive pesticide use on farmland and to protect forests and the environment. Otherwise the doel and other native birds will no longer be seen. To conserve the doel and other birds, social forestry should be expanded and bird hunters brought under the law and punished.

The writer is a student at Barishal Polytechnic Institute.

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