One Little Tern flies off with a fish freshly caught from the Padma, while another tries to chase it on a riverbank in Rajshahi. These migratory water birds breed on the coasts and inland waters of temperate and tropical Europe and Asia, and spend their winters in subtropical and tropical oceans as far south as South Africa and Australia. Like most white terns, they feed by plunge-diving for small fish. Sometimes, the males offer their catches to their female counterparts as part of courtship rituals. However, that does not seem to be the case between these two! Little Terns depend largely on water systems for their survival. Despite being categorised as “Least Concern” in IUCN’s red list, a decline in their population in our country is inevitable if the current state of our dying rivers does not improve drastically.

PHOTO: MOSABBER HOSSAIN RIBON