Total 53 Species of 49,126 Aquatic Birds Are Found in the Hakaluki Hoar ( Hakaluki Wetland) – Bird Census 2020

By Tahsin Taha (Student, Dept. of Law,
North-South University, BD)

Hakaluki Haor is one of the largest freshwater wetlands in Asia where this time, lots of birds have been watched, and this haor located across the Sylhet-Moulvibazar District.

According to the census conducted this year, the number of aquatic birds has increased as compared to the last year. A total of 53 species birds have been found as per census.

On January 28 and 29, 2020, Bangladesh Bird Club and International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) jointly carried out this census of 40 beels (water bodies) of Hakaluki.

DR. Paul Thomson, Inam Al-Haq, Omar shadat, Shahid Ferrous, Shafiqur Rahman, and Tarek Onu Promukh of Bangladesh bird club and IUCN, are participated in this bird census.

Inam Al-Haq, Founder and Bird expert of Bangladesh bird club, said to the Bangla News about the census.

He said as conducted the Bird Census 2020 in the Hakaluki hoar; there found 53 specifies 40,126 aquatic birds, which is slightly higher than 2019 as it was 37,931 birds in the last year (2019).

However, the number of birds was slightly higher in 2017 and 2018 than these two years, where it was 45,100 and 58,281 in the year 2018 and 2017, respectively.

The bird’s richest beel is the Chokia beel where counted 5,430 nos. bird, which is followed by the Chawla beel of bird nos. 5,187. A total of 4,983 and 3,350 nos. of aquatic birds have been observed in the Foot Beel and Baliyazuri Beel, respectively.

The Bird expert also told, ”In the census there found six species are of threatened aquatic bird which is the critically endangered Bear’s Pochard, the vulnerable glossy ibis, the endanger spotted redshank, the painted stork, the black-headed ibis, the falcate duck.”

The beels of Hakaluki that were under census are Hawabanya, Kalapani, Ranchi, Dudhai, Garakuri, Chokia, Ujana-Lalu, Feet, Hingwajuri, Nagaon, Loribai, Floor Bill, Kangli, Kuri, Chinawara, Agala, Pingla, Pingla, Pingla, Pangla, Down-stream, Nagaon-dhulia, Mysala-dak, Chandar, Malam, Fuela, Palovanga, Haor canal, Coir-particles, Moizudari, Jala, Puppy, Sandy, Mudhala, Garasakona, Jola, Padma, Katua. Eda, Gbaya, Gajuya, Haramadina, Goyalajura.

Bangladesh Bird club also said that during the census, they were found lots of dead birds that were killed by poison. They also opined, “This kind of action is the direct threat to the bird’s existence and Biodiversity.”