Assam school students’ drive for urban bird nest conservation spreads wings

Guwahati

An initiative by students of an eastern Assam school near National Highway 37 to conserve bird nests in urban areas has taken flight.

Chorai Bandhob (Friend of Birds), a student-led group from Bongaon Chola High School in Golaghat district, launched Bird Nest Conservation Day on February 14, 2025. The observance was fairly low-key, focused on distributing terracotta nesting platforms locally.

A year later, the initiative caught on, expanding beyond Golaghat. Two non-government organisations in the district—GRASS and Asharay—teamed up with Chorai Bandhob to scale up bird nest conservation efforts. Students from 16 schools in the district observed Bird Nest Conservation Day on Saturday (February 14, 2026) while a parallel event attracted students from 40 schools to a centralised venue in the adjoining Majuli district.

Girimallika Saikia, the headmaster of Bongaon Chola High School and director of Chorai Bandhob, said the group launched the first-of-its-kind initiative in India to motivate people in urban areas to build and protect nests. “The motto this time was ‘space for nests, future for birds’, emphasising long-term, sustainable solutions. This involved planting saplings of local fruit-yielding trees that provide nesting space for birds,” she told The Hindu on Sunday (February 15, 2026).

Ms. Saikia said the group decided to expand the initiative across Assam and beyond after finding out that many specialist bird species are declining due to urbanisation and habitat loss, leading to the homogenisation of generalist species adaptable to urban conditions.

A terracotta bird nest hung on a tree by members of Chorai Bandhob in eastern Assam’s Golaghat district.
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Special arrangement

The students—mostly from economically disadvantaged Adivasi families in nearby tea gardens—did not take long to embrace the cause enthusiastically. They were convinced that effective bird conservation requires allowing birds—particularly 20% of the world’s avian species that are found in human-dominated landscapes—to breed in a safe nesting environment.

The programme featured dance dramas, exhibitions, and seminars on bird and nest conservation. Organisers clarified that the choice of February 14 had no connection with Valentine’s Day.

“The initiative was inspired by Nest Box Week, observed since 1997 by which England’s British Trust for Ornithology has been celebrating since 1997, from February 14. The day also suited us because mid-February is ideal for awareness campaigns ahead of the breeding season of most birds in India, which typically begins in March and ends in July,” Ms Saikia said.