Artificial wooden nesting plays an impressive role in increasing mallard duck breeding
Like many other native birds, the mallard duck is also declining in Bangladesh. Various types of experimental artificial nests made of wood have been installed on the banks of different types of trees of Baikka Beel in Srimangal Upazila of Hail Haor, Moulvibazar, Bangladesh, to escape the mallard ducks from extinction. The installation has done a decade and a half ago.
The initiative has been very successful so far. Every year during the breeding season, the mallards choose these artificial nests. They lay their eggs in this artificial nest and hatch their babies. They are now roaming freely in the Baikka Beel area.
An NGO of Environment Program and Baragangina Resource Management Organization, named Center for Natural Resource Studies (CNRS), responsible for managing and conservating Hail Haor’s permanent fish habitat Baikka Beel, has reported that Hail Haor is known as an essential water body and wetland in the country.
In 2003, the government of Bangladesh declared the Baikka Beel of 100 hectares of Hail Haor as a fish and bird sanctuary to protect natural resources and the environment permanently.
This haor is also listed internationally as an Important Bird Area. As part of this program, CNRS has taken a new initiative to sustain and increase the reproduction of the mallard duck.
In 2005, the organization set up 12 wooden nests on seasoned poles and bamboo and trees on the banks of the experimental Baikka Beel. However, that year the mallards did not build their nests in the artificial shelter of the wood.
In 2007, four boxes of mallards had seen hatching. This was the first time in the country’s history that mallard ducks laid eggs in artificial wooden boxes. Since then, more and more mallards have been building nests and laying eggs in artificial nests yearly.
This year set 22 new boxes between seasoned poles, bamboo and Hijol or Indian oak(Barringtonia acutangula), Koroch (Pongamia pinnata), Jarul (Lagerstroemia speciosa), Banyan Tree, Shimul,
Jujube Trees. To ensure that the artificial nests and the bird’s environment are not damaged, these duck nests are regularly monitored by the monitoring team of the CNRS-Environment Program Hail Haur site.
The field survey reveals that mallard ducks have nested and laid eggs in 7 wooden boxes out of 22.
Md. Moniruzzaman Chowdhury, Site Officer of Hail Hour Environment Program of CNRS, said, “I think the number of mallards in Baikka Beel is increasing due to these artificial nests.”
