For years, Girimallika Saikia woke up early to birds chirping. A photography enthusiast, she would wait patiently as house sparrows, magpie-robins and mynas hopped from one branch to another at her Bongaon residence in Assam’s Golaghat, and capture them on her camera.
This continued until everything changed one year when the chirps faded as the birds stopped coming. Noisy machines moved and trees were cut down to make way for a highway. The birds slowly disappeared.
Girimallika, headmistress in-charge of Bongaon Chola High School, was deeply concerned but could not think of an immediate solution. Over time, she started planting trees by the side of the highway until conceiving the idea of making artificial nests. She roped in 30 of her students and launched a bird conservation movement under the banner ‘Chorai Bandhob’ (Friends of Flyers). Four years on, the birds returned.
“We were at a loss as the highway project severely impacted the birds. We planted trees but realised soon after that it could not bring an immediate solution. Since 2022, I had been examining which types of nests work best. We developed two terracotta models in 2023 but did not get the desired results as the shapes of nests vary from one species of bird to another,” says Girimallika.
Following a further study, she designed different artificial terracotta nests the next year and the birds soon moved into those. Chorai Bandhob has put up around 60 nests so far.
“Initially, we put up 30 nests, covering a distance of around 1 km. We were happy when the birds arrived. The trees planted are yet to mature,” Girimallika says.
Attacks on birds’ nests with stones or slingshots were common. Alarmed by such acts, Chorai Bandhob began observing the Bird Nest Conservation Day on February 14 with an aim to spread awareness. Men, women and students were invited during the observance. Slowly, all 350 students and teachers of Girimallika’s school became a part of Chorai Bandhob.
“We thought observing the Bird Nest Conservation Day on February 14 will be more meaningful as it is around this month that birds get to build their nests ahead of their breeding season,” says Girimallika. She visited many government schools in the district to spread awareness. “Within a year or so, six schools joined our campaign. We had organised a competition among them with conservation as the topic and gave certificates. They were all excited and motivated, and started working in their respective areas,” says Girimallika.
Chorai Bandhob also staged dramas to try and educate people on bird conservation. The efforts did not go to waste. So far, 16 schools and two local NGOs—Grass and Aashray—joined the movement. Girimallika was able to motivate thousands of students in the region to work for conservation of birds and nature.