Hostname: page-component-cd9895bd7-dk4vv Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-22T01:55:24.011Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

The conservation status of key bird species on Taliabu and the Sula Islands, Indonesia

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  11 May 2010

Peter Davidson
Affiliation:
24 Christchurch Road, Norwich NR2 2AE, U.K.
Tony Stones
Affiliation:
32 Hill Street, Norwich NR2 2DT, U.K.
Rob Lucking
Affiliation:
20 Poolfield Avenue, Newcastle-under-Lyme, Staffordshire ST5 2NL, U.K.
Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Summary

Core share and HTML view are not available for this content. However, as you have access to this content, a full PDF is available via the ‘Save PDF’ action button.

Ornithological surveys were conducted over a seven-week period on Taliabu, Sula Islands, Indonesia in 1991, concentrating on eight species (seven of which have restricted ranges) considered (in 1991) to be threatened and six species (two of which have restricted ranges) considered near-threatened. All of the restricted-range species are dependent on lowland forest, although most persist in secondary habitats, and some also occur in montane forest. Tyto nigrobrunnea was recorded for the first time since the type-specimen was collected in 1938, and is perhaps the most threatened of all the restricted-range birds. Megapodius bernsteinii, Pitta dohertyi, Rhinomyias colonus, Basilornis galeatus and Streptocitta albertinae are threatened in the longer term, primarily by habitat loss. Both Coracina schistacea and C. sula are able to persist in all but the most degraded of habitats. Of the two restricted-range species considered near-threatened, Zoothera erythronota is at greatest risk on Taliabu, apparently restricted to lowland forests. The other, Ptilinopus subgularis, is common in lowland forest and also occurs in montane forest. Little primary lowland forest was found in the areas visited on the island, and identifying remaining areas of this forest type and its relative importance to the birds, especially restricted-range species, should be given highest priority in further surveys. The suitability of a proposed reserve area on the island was evaluated: a larger area of lowland forest than is currently proposed should be afforded protection in order to safeguard the island's characteristic avifauna.

Type
Research Article
Copyright
Copyright © Birdlife International 1995

References

Bishop, K. D. (1989) Little known Tyto owls of Wallacea. Kukila 4: 3743.Google Scholar
Collar, N. J. and Andrew, P. (1988) Birds to watch: the ICBP world checklist of threatened birds. Cambridge, U.K.: International Council for Bird Preservation (Techn. Publ. 8).Google Scholar
Collar, N. J., Crosby, M. J., and Stattersfield, A. J. (1994) Birds to watch 2: the world list of threatened birds. Cambridge, U.K.: BirdLife International (BirdLife Conservation Series no. 4).Google Scholar
Davidson, P. J., Stones, A. J., Lucking, R. S. and Bean, N. J. (1991) University of East Anglia Taliabu Expedition preliminary report. Unpublished.Google Scholar
Davidson, P. J., Lucking, R. S., Stones, A. J., Bean, N. J., Raharjaningtrah, W. and Banjaransari, H. (1994) Report on an ornithological survey of Taliabu, Indonesia. Unpublished report to BirdLife International.Google Scholar
Dekker, R. W. R. J. (1990) Recent information on Sula Scrubfowl Megapodius bernsteinii. From a letter by Dennis Yong. Megapode Newsl. 4 (1): 34.Google Scholar
FAO/UNDP (1981) A national conservation plan for Indonesia, 7: Maluku and Irian Jaya. FO/INS/78/051. Bogor, Indonesia: Food and Agriculture Organization.Google Scholar
Gibbs, D. (1990) Wallacea: a site guide for birdwatchers. Bracknell, Berks: Gibbs.Google Scholar
Hartert, E. (1898) List of a collection of birds made in the Sula Islands by William Doherty. Novit. Zool. 5: 125136.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hayman, P., Marchant, J. and Prater, T. (1986) Shorebirds: an identification guide to the waders of the world. London: Christopher Helm.Google Scholar
ICBP (1992) Putting biodiversity on the map: priority areas for global conservation. Cambridge, U.K: International Council for Bird Preservation.Google Scholar
Indrawan, M., Fujita, M. S., Masala, Y. and Pesik, L. (1993) Status and conservation of the Sula Scrubfowl (Megapodius bernsteinii Schlegel, 1866) in Banggai Islands, Sulawesi. Tropical Biodiversity 1: 113130.Google Scholar
Jones, M., Juhaeni, D., Banjaransari, H., Banham, W., Lace, L., Linsley, M. and Marsden, S. (1994) The ecology and conservation of the forest birds and butterflies of Sumba, Indonesia. Report to BirdLife International.Google Scholar
Lambert, F. R. (in prep.) Pittas, broadbills and asities. Mountfield, U.K.: Pica Press.Google Scholar
Lucking, R. S., Davidson, P. J., Stones, A. J. and Bean, N. J. (1992) Status and ecology of the Sula Scrubfowl Megapodius bernsteinii on Taliabu, Maluku, Indonesia. Megapode Newsl. 6 (2): 1522.Google Scholar
Macdonald, A. A. (1993) The babirusa (Babyrousa babyrussa). In Oliver, W. L. R., ed. Status survey and conservation action plan: pigs, peccaries and hippos. Gland, Switzerland: International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources.Google Scholar
Marchant, S. and Higgins, P. J. (1990) Handbook of Australian, New Zealand and Antarctic birds, 1(B): Ratites to Ducks. Melbourne: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
RePPProT (1989) Regional Physical Planning Programme for Transmigration. Review of Phase 1 Results: Maluku and Nusa Tenggara. Land Resources Department ODNRI, Overseas Development Administration, London, and Direktorat Jendral Penyiapan Departemen Transmigrasi, Jakarta.Google Scholar
Reynolds, R. T., Scott, J. M. and Nussbaum, R. A. (1980) A variable circular-plot method for estimating bird numbers. Condor 82: 309313.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Sibley, C. G. and Monroe, B. L. (1990) Distribution and taxonomy of birds of the world. Newhaven: Yale University Press.Google Scholar
Smiet, F. (1982) Threats to the Spice Islands. Oryx 16: 323328.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Stattersfield, A. J., Crosby, M. J., Long, A. J. and Wege, D. C. (in prep.) Global directory of endemic bird areas. Cambridge, U.K.: BirdLife International (BirdLife Conservation Series).Google Scholar
Wallace, A. R. (1862) List of birds from the Sula Islands (east of Celebes), with descriptions of the new species. Proc. Zool. Soc. Lond. 1862: 333346.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
White, C. M. N. and Bruce, M. D. (1986) The birds of Wallacea (Sulawesi, the Moluccas and Lesser Sunda Islands, Indonesia): an annotated checklist. London: British Ornithologists’ Union (Check-list 7).Google Scholar
Whitten, A. J., Mustafa, M. and Henderson, G. S. (1987) The ecology of Sulawesi. Yogyakarta: Gadjah Mada University Press.Google Scholar