TheJakartaPost
Please Update your browser
Your browser is out of date, and may not be compatible with our website. A list of the most popular web browsers can be found below.
Just click on the icons to get to the download page.
Yogyakarta home to 70% of Java's bird species
Endangered: The Javan hawk-eagle an endemic raptor found in Yogyakarta, is an endangered species, with their numbers in the province reaching only eight
Change Size
Endangered: The Javan hawk-eagle an endemic raptor found in Yogyakarta, is an endangered species, with their numbers in the province reaching only eight. (JP/Bambang Muryanto) (JP/Bambang Muryanto)
E
span class="inline inline-center">Endangered: The Javan hawk-eagle an endemic raptor found in Yogyakarta, is an endangered species, with their numbers in the province reaching only eight. (JP/Bambang Muryanto)
Yayasan Kutilang Indonesia (YKI), a bird protection organization in Yogyakarta, has revealed in its latest report that as of 2014, as many as 340 or 70 percent of 515 bird species on Java Island can be found in the province.
'We found two migrant bird species, namely the kedidi dada coret [pectoral sandpiper] and cerek kalung besar [ringed plover] at Trisik Beach in Kulonprogo regency. It's a new sighting here,' YKI chairman Imam Taufiqurrahman told thejakartapost.com on Sunday.
He said 46 of the total were endemic bird species to Java Island while 68 others were protected species. Twenty-three bird species found in Yogyakarta are endangered species. They include the Javan hawk-eagle, the black-winged starling and the Sunda coucal.
Imam said the report released by the YKI in April was a result of observation it conducted and compiled with the results of observation activities by several bird-watching organizations in Yogyakarta. In a previous report compiled in 2008, the YKI recorded 318 bird species in the province while in 1995, it found only 140 bird species.
'We have been successful in recording 33 new bird species thanks to expanded observation areas of the bird-watching organizations,' said Imam.
Among new bird species recorded are the long-billed spiderhunter and the forest wagtail.
However, Imam said, there were several bird species that had not been sighted for 20 years, such as the stork-billed kingfisher and the pied Myna or Asian pied starling.
The YKI chairman said as it was rich in bird species, Yogyakarta could become an important destination for tourist birdwatchers. However, he was also worried about wildlife hunting and trading as well as excessive building construction that had threatened the sustainability of the bird species.
Lim Wen Sin of the Raptor Club Indonesia (RCI) estimated that the number of Javan hawk-eagles in Indonesia reached only eight.
'It's alarming. The Javan hawk-eagle is one of Indonesia's most hunted bird species,' he said. (ebf)(++++)
