Photographer couple of Rajshahi. Imrul Kayes and Umm Khadija managed to capture a rare bird in the Padma River to photograph the birds. Even after the photo was taken on April 1, they weren’t sure what the bird was. They sent the picture of the bird to local and foreign experts on the same day.
You can know from them that this bird is very rare in Bangladesh. The bird has been seen only once before in the country. The name of the bird is Gray Phalarope. It is also called red phalarope or red phalarope.
This bird was first seen in Bangladesh in 2013 at Sujanagar in Pabna by wildlife researcher Shimand Deepu. This time Imrul Kayes and Umm Khadija couple were seen in Padma river in Rajshahi.
Talking to ornithologists, it is known that a strange subfamily of beach-birds (shorebirds) is called Phalaeropodini. There are only three species of birds in this subfamily in the world. Red phalarope, red neck phalarope and Wilson’s phalarope. In Phalarop society women are the chiefs. Females are larger in size than males, and the plumage of females is more brightly colored than that of males. Female birds fight with each other to win the preferred male mate. In other birds the opposite is usually the case. Female phalarope birds select nesting sites and fight to defend them. But the male has to do all the work of laying the eggs and rearing the chicks.
We returned home happy to photograph a new bird. At night, we learned from local and foreign ornithologists that the bird we found was actually the Gray Phalarope, which is even more rare. The bird has been seen in Bangladesh only once before. After 11 years, our photographs of Gray Phalarope at Padma in Rajshahi remain forever as the second evidence of this bird’s location in Bangladesh.
Umm Khadija, photographer
Wilson’s phalarape lives in South America in summer and North America in winter. It is not found in any other continent. The other two species of phalaropes are found on all continents except Australia and Antarctica. The Red Phalarope winters in seas and coastal rivers and migrates to the tundra regions of Siberia, Iceland and Canada to breed in the summer. This bird is only eight inches long even though it has traveled all over the world by sea. Aquatic insects and plankton are the main food of these birds. This bird gathers food by making small eddies in the water by swimming.
It is difficult to understand the correctness of the name red phalarope in winter. In winter its plumage has no red markings. Then its belly is white, its back is gray and its lips are black. During the breeding season, only the throat and belly feathers are red and the lips are red.
The number of gray-phalaropes in the world is estimated to be one million. Perhaps this bird has not yet been placed on the endangered species list because it wanders in deserted seas in winter and breeds in uninhabited tundra in summer.
Telling the story of finding the gray phalarope, photographer Umm Khadija told Prothom Alo that now it’s summer, she wanted to go out to the Baya area to see birds of paradise flycatchers. But her husband said, first go to see Padma bird. They talked to their reliable guide and bird photographer Anik Majhi at night and everything was arranged. On the morning of April 1, they were accompanied by budding bird photographer Tushar. After many days he descends to the river. The boat is moving forward through the blue water under the sunny blue sky. Along the city along the seven kilometers of the river, he began to look in detail where there are birds. This is how the afternoon came. Several types of migratory birds can be seen at a place near Char Khanpur. They decided to spend the rest of the day photographing the birds there. A little far from the flock of birds, they are walking towards the flock of birds with the camera in their hand, wading in the water. Seeing a bird in the flock seemed a little different. Kayes motioned for them to keep an eye on the bird as they moved closer to see what bird it was. It could be the rare bird Red Neck Phalarope. After about three hours of slow progress, they finally managed to get a good picture of the bird.
Umme Khadija said, ‘As far as known, the red necked phalarope bird was seen in Bangladesh for the first time in 2019. So far it has been seen in very few places. We returned home happy to photograph a new bird. At night, we learned from local and foreign ornithologists that the bird we found was actually the Gray Phalarope, which is even more rare. The bird has been seen in Bangladesh only once before. This bird was seen for the first time in Sujanagar, Pabna in 2013. After 11 years, our photographs of Gray Phalarope bird at Padma in Rajshahi remain forever as a second testimony of this bird’s location in Bangladesh.’
Seeman Deepu, who identified the Gray Phalarope bird for the first time in the country, said that he took the first picture in the month of Baisakh. This is when they can be seen. It is understood that they are coming regularly.
Inam Al Haque, the founder of Bangladesh Bird Club told Prothom Alo that this bird can be seen in the subcontinent. It is undoubtedly a rare bird for Bangladesh. Few come. Now it’s time for them to go. It will be gone in a few days.
