Thousands of sparrows gather every evening at Matlab hospital, a sight now seven years old
Every day, just before dusk, flocks of sparrows arrive and settle on the branches of the garden trees at the icddr,b Matlab Hospital in Matlab Dakshin upazila of Chandpur. Within a while, thousands of sparrows are hidden among the branches, leaves and flowers.
Their chirping fills the hospital grounds. They spend the whole night there, and at first light they fly off together in search of food.
For about seven years now, this sight has been seen during certain months of the year in the hospital's two courtyards. The courtyards look like a small kingdom of thousands of sparrows.
The icddr,b Matlab Hospital stands on the western side of the Matlab-Baburhat road, a little south of the Matlab Dakshin upazila headquarters. In the middle of the hospital's large rectangular building are two courtyards, with neatly kept gardens of rangon, katbel, guava, madhabilata, hasnahan and many other flowering and fruit trees.
On Saturday, between 5pm and 6pm, thousands of sparrows were seen flying in and settling on the branches of these trees. Sparrows were also sitting on the hospital roof and railings. By the end of dusk, thousands of them were present there.
The chirping of the sparrows turns the whole hospital area festive. Patients and their attendants gather on the verandas to watch the scene. Some record videos of the beautiful sight, others take photographs.
Upazila Nirbahi Officer (UNO) K M Ishmam told Prothom Alo that he has learned about the matter and will visit the hospital to see the sparrows' gathering. He said it speaks of the safe coexistence of people, birds and nature, and called the event significant.
Senior physician Chandrashekhar Das of the icddr,b Matlab Hospital said he enjoys the daily arrival and chirping of thousands of sparrows in the hospital courtyards. He told Prothom Alo that for about seven years, thousands of sparrows have flown in every evening before dusk to the flower and fruit gardens in the two courtyards in the middle of the hospital's rectangular building.
Chandrashekhar Das added that the birds stay in the hospital garden all night and fly off together as soon as the sun rises. This gathering of sparrows has continued for about seven years. In between, they did not come for one year — last year — and he cannot find the reason. They arrive in August and stay continuously until May. During this period the hospital courtyard is like a safe night shelter for the sparrows. Neither the hospital's patients nor its staff disturb them.
Doctors Md. Sarwar Jahan and Md. Kamrul Islam, and staff members Kabir Hossain and A. Hannan, among others, said much the same thing.
Fatema Akter, a young woman from Chatkhil in Noakhali, brought her elderly father, who is suffering from diarrhoea, to this hospital. She said she was overwhelmed and delighted to see so many sparrows in the hospital garden in the evening. Saddam Hossain, a man from Noakhali district, said, 'I have never seen so many sparrows together in my life. It feels very good. I have recorded a video and taken pictures.' He was admitted to the hospital last Friday with diarrhoea and is now much better, preparing to return home.
Asked why the flock of sparrows chose this hospital garden, retired teacher Ashok Kumar Roy of the Department of Geography and Environmental Studies at Matlab Government Degree College said birds follow their own grammar and rules. They usually go in flocks to places they find safe, and the sparrows chose this garden because they found it safe.
Asked why the birds stay quiet at night, he said most birds cannot see well at night, so they usually remain silent.
Station chief Al Fazal Khan of the icddr,b Matlab Hospital said the arrival of so many sparrows in his hospital garden is a positive thing. It is a wonderful meeting of nature, birds and people, he said, and it feels very good.
