Its body is striped like a tiger's, and it likes to stay hidden. But when it comes face to face with a person, dog, fox or anything else, it puffs up its striped feathers, spreads its wings, raises its crown and takes on a fearsome look, ready to strike with its spear-like bill to drive the intruder off. To catch prey it lies in wait silently, hidden like a tiger. It watches its prey closely, walks slowly and then stands still again, striking before the prey knows it is there. It is skilled at hunting snakes, frogs, lizards and night insects. With its brown feathers striped in black, this nocturnal bird is hard to spot in grassland and behind bushes.

It is the bagha bogla, known in English as the great bittern, scientific name Botaurus stellaris. Of all the birds seen in Bangladesh, the great bittern is the rarest. Another reason it goes unseen is that it sleeps by day and comes out to hunt at night.

This rare bird was recently rescued in Mirzapur union of Sreemangal upazila. It is now at the Bangladesh Wildlife Service Foundation in Sreemangal. The foundation's director, Sajal Dev, said the bird got caught on a fishing hook at night while trying to eat fish, and was rescued after the foundation was told. It has a slight injury to its mouth and will be released once it recovers.

About 10 years ago a great bittern was last seen at the Bharaura tea estate in Sreemangal, Moulvibazar. Ornithologist Inam Al Haque, founding president of the Bangladesh Bird Club, came to see it then with ornithologist Paul Thompson. It was identified as a great bittern and released in Hail Haor. Since then there has been no report of a great bittern being seen anywhere, the ornithologist said.

Inam Al Haque said: "Bangladesh has five species of bittern, and the rarest of them is the great bittern. It sleeps during the day and comes out to hunt at night, so it is seldom seen. It comes to our country in winter and leaves again in summer."

He said: "In Bangladesh it may live only in the haor region, but because it sleeps by day its presence is hard to detect. At the end of winter it goes to Europe. Its breeding season is March to June. It moves at night and avoids other animals."

The ornithologist said: "If you suddenly come face to face with it, it does not flee in fear. Instead it charges with a tiger's courage, trying to scare its opponent away. The bird weighs about one and a half kilograms on average, but its legs are not as long as other herons'. It comes out to hunt at dusk and rests during the day."

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