Birds in Lobo | Lengguru

Research teams left Lobo on Friday 31th October, an opportunity to review the field work so far. Here is an abstract on birds,

By Hidayat Ashari & Suparno, Christophe Thébaud and Borja Mila

The Lengguru area, with the Lengguru River as the main river, is an interesting spot for bird watching. In the Lobo area, several habitat types can be found, ranging from lowland with mangrove and Ficus sp. as the dominant plants, to primary forest at higher altitude. Observations on birds were conducted in two main areas, the primary forest (km 8 from base camp) at 200-300 m asl, and montane forest at 1000 to 1200 m asl.

In total, 98 specimens representing 32 species were collected. The presence of several interesting birds from the Alcedenidae (kingfisher) group, such as Ceyx solitarius, Ceyx pusillus, Tanysiptera galatea and Syma torotoro, is a good indicator of forest quality in the Lobo area, in particular in riverine habitats (small stream, small pool, swamp). Top predator birds were also spotted there, including Accipiter cirrocephalus and Accipiter poliocephalus, which suggests good ecosystem health in the area. In the montane areas, Peneothello bimaculata, Sericornis spilodera and Crateroscelis murina, were spotted. However, only one night was spent at high altitude, and more intensive surveys are still needed to uncover the real bird biodiversity in those areas. Target species, such as Goura cristata, a giant pigeon of the Columbidae family, were spotted several times. The presence of numerous hornbill species also supports the good conditions of the forest. In conclusion, despite the existence of patches of disturbed forest in the Lobo area, the diversity of bird species does not seem to be affected.

Borja observing a bird © J.M. Porte / IRD