Patuakhali birds favour police protection

Shortly before sunset, hundreds of birds routinely descend upon Patuakhali town's police station. Attracted by a handsome ten-year-old jackfruit tree in the compound, members of several avian species have adopted the habit of roosting there.

Just as humans turn to the police for security, so do the birds. According to local advocate Abul Kalam Azad while there are other trees in town that might serve the same purpose for the birds, they choose the jackfruit tree to pass the night peacefully, free of the threat of hunters.

"The birds arrive every evening in large numbers to take shelter," says sub-inspector Md. Shakil. "There is no avoiding their chirping twice a day: when they arrive and early of a morning as they depart. We enjoy it." 

Situated in the middle of a zero-shaped building, the jackfruit tree is hardly the most accessible tree. Yet the birds don't seem to mind.

"Birds fly through the building to reach the tree," says sub-inspector J M Masum who also enjoys the phenomenon. "We'd like to feed them also," he says, "but we have no chance since they stay here only to sleep."

According to the police, the tree is particularly busy for the six months following April, and quieter during the winter when many birds leave, only to return as the weather once again warms. Sparrows, martins, weaverbirds and cuckoos are among the species represented.

Md. Imran Khan, a student of Patuakhali Polytechnic Institute, meanwhile, has another theory as to why so many birds favour the tree. "The town has fewer sites for them to shelter than it used to," he observes, "as bushy trees and bamboo clumps have been cleared."

As such, former assistant professor of Patuakhali Government College zoology department, Pijush Kanti Hori, believes it important to maintain the jackfruit tree as a roosting site where the birds feel safe. "Some species face extinction from hunting," he says, "They need protecting not only from hunters, but also during storms."

And for the birds of Patuakhali, protection means police protection...