Last eagle of Purbachal: Grey-headed Fish Eagle | The Business Standard
Skip to main content
  • Latest
  • Economy
    • Banking
    • Stocks
    • Industry
    • Analysis
    • Bazaar
    • RMG
    • Corporates
    • Aviation
  • Videos
    • TBS Today
    • TBS Stories
    • TBS World
    • News of the day
    • TBS Programs
    • Podcast
    • Editor's Pick
  • World+Biz
  • Features
    • Panorama
    • The Big Picture
    • Pursuit
    • Habitat
    • Thoughts
    • Splash
    • Mode
    • Tech
    • Explorer
    • Brands
    • In Focus
    • Book Review
    • Earth
    • Food
    • Luxury
    • Wheels
  • Subscribe
    • Get the Paper
    • Epaper
    • GOVT. Ad
  • More
    • Sports
    • TBS Graduates
    • Bangladesh
    • Supplement
    • Infograph
    • Archive
    • Gallery
    • Long Read
    • Interviews
    • Offbeat
    • Magazine
    • Climate Change
    • Health
    • Cartoons
  • বাংলা
The Business Standard

Saturday
July 19, 2025

Sign In
Subscribe
  • Latest
  • Economy
    • Banking
    • Stocks
    • Industry
    • Analysis
    • Bazaar
    • RMG
    • Corporates
    • Aviation
  • Videos
    • TBS Today
    • TBS Stories
    • TBS World
    • News of the day
    • TBS Programs
    • Podcast
    • Editor's Pick
  • World+Biz
  • Features
    • Panorama
    • The Big Picture
    • Pursuit
    • Habitat
    • Thoughts
    • Splash
    • Mode
    • Tech
    • Explorer
    • Brands
    • In Focus
    • Book Review
    • Earth
    • Food
    • Luxury
    • Wheels
  • Subscribe
    • Get the Paper
    • Epaper
    • GOVT. Ad
  • More
    • Sports
    • TBS Graduates
    • Bangladesh
    • Supplement
    • Infograph
    • Archive
    • Gallery
    • Long Read
    • Interviews
    • Offbeat
    • Magazine
    • Climate Change
    • Health
    • Cartoons
  • বাংলা
SATURDAY, JULY 19, 2025
Last eagle of Purbachal: Grey-headed Fish Eagle

Panorama

Enam Ul Haque
12 June, 2021, 12:00 pm
Last modified: 12 June, 2021, 05:54 pm

Related News

  • A forest saved: Inside the restoration of Purbachal's last Sal grove
  • Court orders gazette notice for Hasina, 11 others in Purbachal forgery cases
  • Court orders attachment of Ron Sikder's 100 acres land in Purbachal
  • 300 Feet: The late-night haven turns barren amid security concerns
  • Purbachal land forgery: ACC approves 6 charge sheets against Hasina, family

Last eagle of Purbachal: Grey-headed Fish Eagle

A lonely Grey-headed Fish Eagle has refused to give up its home at the buried floodplain we call Purbachal

Enam Ul Haque
12 June, 2021, 12:00 pm
Last modified: 12 June, 2021, 05:54 pm
Grey-headed Fish Eagle patrolling the sky. Photo: Courtesy
Grey-headed Fish Eagle patrolling the sky. Photo: Courtesy

The floodplain connecting Turag and Balu rivers was buried to erect on its coffin an enormous uptown called Purbachal.

The olden residents were evicted quietly as the floodplain was buried under the mounds of sand dredged out of the rivers. The wildlife moved on when the dredging machines and the earth-movers established their dominion over the floodplain.  

Being the winged tenants of the floodplain the ducks such as Cotton Pygmy-goose and Lesser Whistling Ducks were the first to leave and relocate in some other places or perish. All the other birds also disappeared soon enough. 

The Business Standard Google News Keep updated, follow The Business Standard's Google news channel

Not every bird, however, was happy to leave. It is not always easy to find a new home, even for the birds. Then, one may be too fond of one's hereditary home to be happy elsewhere. 

A lonely Grey-headed Fish Eagle is one such bird that has refused to give up its home at the buried floodplain we call Purbachal. We were astonished, happy and sad at the same time to see that solitary eagle sitting on a tree-top in sector 9. That was, probably, the last resident eagle of Purbachal; and we did not know for how long it would be able to survive there. 

An agitated Grey-headed Fish Eagle at Purbachal. Photo: Courtesy
An agitated Grey-headed Fish Eagle at Purbachal. Photo: Courtesy

When we spotted the eagle for the first time it was sitting tentatively at the supple end of a young bamboo bent under its weight. The hefty bird was not at all happy with the swaying perch and looked very agitated. We had no doubt that it was a female eagle. We could tell the sex of the bird from its size.

We guessed that the eagle weighed over 2.5 kg; too heavy to be a male. As in most eagles the male Grey-headed Fish Eagle is about half as heavy as its female. The female is bigger, heavier and better at fishing. Although both male and female participate equally in their household chores the female is a better provider as far as the food for the brood is concerned. 

On our several visits we saw the eagle sitting high up on large trees near the surviving water-holes in Purbachal. Turag and Balu rivers seemed to be too polluted and noisy to suit the sombre mood of the thoughtful bird. She was more comfortable near the narrow canals and the residual fens in the quieter area. She seemed to favour the Taal-palms and Chikrashi-trees near shallow water. 

We know that the Grey-headed Fish Eagle fed mostly on fish, frogs and snakes. Its feet and talons are designed especially to grip and hold on to slippery and wiggling prey. It has also honed its fishing skill over many millions of years. Obviously, the one thing it did not learn to handle was a total absence of fish, frog and snake. And haven't we been working foolishly to accomplish just that in the wetlands of Bangladesh!

As we destroyed the fish in the wild we expanded our fish culture helter-skelter. Unfortunately, the fish culture did not do much good to the eagles since we preferred our fish culture to remain inaccessible to the eagles. It was not so bad to keep our fish culture out of reach of eagles; what was bad was to keep wild fish accessible to people.

Grey-headed Fish Eagle commuting between trees. Photo: Courtesy
Grey-headed Fish Eagle commuting between trees. Photo: Courtesy

Although a few Grey-headed Fish Eagles live in the neighbouring Munshiganj district today we do not see any in Dhaka except a singleton each in Keraniganj, Savar and Purbachal. We would be delighted to see breeding pairs there instead of lonely individuals. This eagle is considered globally near-threatened; and we do not wish those three individuals to be bachelors for long and let that species be less and less populous in Bangladesh.

We wish to see an ambitious male enter the territory of the lonely female in Purbachal in the coming breeding season. We hope to hear his far-reaching calls and impressive display flights when we go birding in Purbachal in the fall. We need to see the male and the female lock talons and cart-wheel in the sky to cultivate confidence and form a bond to last their lifetime. 

We want our poets to see the display flights of the eagles as did Walt Whitman who, in the 19th century, wrote The Dalliance of the Eagles. He saw the real eagles rave and roll in the sky talon to talon, not merely the emblematic eagles of his fancy or fabled eagles foretold. 

The potent word-picture of the eagles' boisterous flights Walt Whitman's poem painted was cherished by people generations after generations. And a century later when the lonely voice of Rachel Carson called people to save the Bald Eagle of America the response was global.   

Today we need observant poets like Walt Whitman and passionate scientists like Rachel Carson among us.

Top News

Grey-headed Fish Eagle / eagle / Purbachal

Comments

While most comments will be posted if they are on-topic and not abusive, moderation decisions are subjective. Published comments are readers’ own views and The Business Standard does not endorse any of the readers’ comments.

Top Stories

  • Screengrab from video
    Jamaat Ameer Shafiqur collapses on stage mid-speech at Suhrawardy rally
  • Jamaat set for its first-ever Suhrawardy Udyan rally at Suhrawardy Udyan on 19 July 2025. Photo: Jamaat-e-Islami/Facebook
    Elections under PR system most appropriate now, Jamaat’s Taher tells Suhrawardy rally
  • Ongoing curfew in Gopalganj on 17 July 2025. Photo: Olid Ebna Shah/TBS
    Curfew imposed again in Gopalganj from 8pm tonight to 6am tomorrow

MOST VIEWED

  • Chief Adviser Muhammad Yunus and SpaceX Vice President Lauren Dreyer after a meeting at state guest house Jamuna on 18 July 2025. Photo: Focus Bangla
    SpaceX VP Lauren Dreyer praises Bangladesh's efficiency in facilitating Starlink launch
  • Representational Photo: Collected
    Railway allocates special trains for Jamaat's national rally in Dhaka
  • Governments often rely on foreign loans. Russia’s loans covered 90% of the Rooppur Nuclear Power plant project's cost. Photo: Collected
    Loan tenure for Rooppur plant extended 
  • Representational image. Photo: Unsplash
    Mobile operators give 1GB free data to users observing 'Free Internet Day' today
  • Dollar rate falling fast – what it means for the economy
    Dollar rate falling fast – what it means for the economy
  • Chattogram-based Western Marine Shipyard Ltd has exported two tugboats—Ghaya and Khalid—to UAE-based Marwan Shipping Ltd, earning $1.6 million. The vessels were officially handed over at the Chittagong Boat Club on 17 July. Photo: Courtesy
    Refined sugar imports double in FY25 as duty cuts bite local refiners

Related News

  • A forest saved: Inside the restoration of Purbachal's last Sal grove
  • Court orders gazette notice for Hasina, 11 others in Purbachal forgery cases
  • Court orders attachment of Ron Sikder's 100 acres land in Purbachal
  • 300 Feet: The late-night haven turns barren amid security concerns
  • Purbachal land forgery: ACC approves 6 charge sheets against Hasina, family

Features

Jatrabari in the capital looks like a warzone as police, alongside Chhatra League men, swoop on quota reform protesters. Photo: Mehedi Hasan

19 July 2024: At least 148 killed as government attempts to quash protests violently

17h | Panorama
Illustration: TBS

Curfews, block raids, and internet blackouts: Hasina’s last ditch efforts to cling to power

23h | Panorama
The Mymensingh district administration confirmed that Zamindar Shashikant Acharya Chowdhury built the house near Shashi Lodge for his staff. Photo: Collected

The Mymensingh house might not belong to Satyajit Ray's family, but there’s little to celebrate

23h | Panorama
Illustration: TBS

20 years of war, 7.5m tonnes of bombs, 1.3m dead: How the US razed Vietnam to the ground

1d | The Big Picture

More Videos from TBS

Jamaat's ‘national rally’ today, leaders-activists throng Suhrawardy Udyan

Jamaat's ‘national rally’ today, leaders-activists throng Suhrawardy Udyan

57m | TBS Today
Gopalganj unrest: Police file 3 cases against 2,300, so far 164 arrested

Gopalganj unrest: Police file 3 cases against 2,300, so far 164 arrested

1h | TBS Today
Dollar rate falling fast – what it means for the economy

Dollar rate falling fast – what it means for the economy

1h | TBS Insight
Massive Turnout at Jamaat's National Rally as Main Event Begins

Massive Turnout at Jamaat's National Rally as Main Event Begins

2h | TBS Today
EMAIL US
contact@tbsnews.net
FOLLOW US
WHATSAPP
+880 1847416158
The Business Standard
  • About Us
  • Contact us
  • Sitemap
  • Advertisement
  • Privacy Policy
  • Comment Policy
Copyright © 2025
The Business Standard All rights reserved
Technical Partner: RSI Lab

Contact Us

The Business Standard

Main Office -4/A, Eskaton Garden, Dhaka- 1000

Phone: +8801847 416158 - 59

Send Opinion articles to - oped.tbs@gmail.com

For advertisement- sales@tbsnews.net