A gift from bird lovers

When a bunch of youths gathers in your front yard and asks your permission for climbing the trees in your village house, you usually feel annoyed fearing they will pluck and take away the fruits. 

But the house owners of a village in Shahzadpur upazila of Sirajganj were not annoyed at all. When approached, they walked the youths to the rows of trees planted in many parts of their spacious homes.

The young men, all aged between 20 and 25, dexterously climbed the trees. Settling themselves nimbly on a sturdy branch, they tied fat earthen pots with the trunk or the branches around.

These are not traps. Quite the opposite, these are set to provide the local birds with shelters and nesting sites.

Even a few weeks ago, villagers ridiculed them, saying all this was a sheer waste of time. But the youths did not relent and went on setting these pots from one house to another. Birds of many local species have started to perch on them; many have built nests in them.

When they approach a house now, they are given a warm reception.

Two friends, Mamun Biswas and Emon Sarkar, have taken this initiative in the village to save local species of birds from extinction.

“We have already set 237 pots in the trees of our village, including roadside trees. Birds easily take shelter in these tree pots.” Mamun told The Daily Star.

The project is on and they want to extend it other villages in the upazila, Emon said.