A streak of blue comes and vanishes

Wetland and plants, in general, are in decline in Dhaka city. The areas around Dhaka have become unsuitable as bird habitat because people are encroaching the wetlands.

For a few months in winter, native birds along with some rare migratory ones such as the Bluethroat and the Red Munia make an appearance around the Catkin flowers in the wetland areas, including the one in Dia Bari of Uttara.

I spotted the beautiful Bluethroat wandering around a drying wetland while taking pictures of other birds in November. These birds are quite shy and hide immediately among the Catkin flowers and other shrubs if they see people. They are cunning, which is why it is very hard to spot them.

I spent about three weeks just to take a good picture of the bird. One afternoon at around three in the afternoon, the Bluethroat suddenly appeared and sat on a wall near me. I took as many pictures as I could in the 2-3 minutes it was with us.

The Bluethroat is about 15cm in length and weighs only around 17grams. The male bird has a blue and reddish dye from its beak to the chest, which looks like a garland. This colour is quite important as it attracts mates during the mating season.

The female bird has a few slight blue spots on the chest with a long white outline above the eyes. Both the male and female birds have brown eyes, black beaks and bright yellow faces, while their feet are dark-brown.

The Bluethroat is usually seen around grassland, small shrubs, ponds, seasonal grass, fallow land and garbage beds in the winter season. The food they look for on the ground consists of dung insects, ants, worms and such.

The scientific name of the Bluethroat is Luscinia svecica.