Kukila Volume 20 is published!

This year marks the beginning of a new approach to publishing KUKILA. Rather than delaying publication of an issue until there are sufficient articles, KUKILA will now publish accepted articles as soon as any necessary revisions, and editing, have been completed. This should result in shorter lags between receiving and publishing articles. All articles published during the year will have page numbers corresponding to the order of their appearance, but will be listed in the contents of the volume by section, as normal.

Accordingly the editors are pleased to announce the publication of three very topical articles to commence KUKILA Volume 20. The first details the shocking and brazen on-line trade of raptors using Facebook. Over one year (2015) the authors tallied over 2,400 individuals of 21 diurnal raptor species, including 127 individuals of the Endangered Javan Hawk Eagle, Indonesia’s National Rare/ Precious Animal. The most frequently traded species was the Black-winged Kite, while the most expensive species were the Peregrine Falcon and Rufous-bellied Eagle, which fetched up to nearly US$300 per bird.

The second article concerns the nesting habits of the Helmeted Hornbill, now Critically Endangered due to rampant illegal hunting for its casque. A nest of this species found in Lampung, Sumatra, possessed a larger entrance and the nest tree was much wider than in two nearby nests of Wreathed Hornbills. From the authors’ observations and one other study, it appears the female Helmeted Hornbill remains incarcerated in its nest for an astonishing 4.5 months.

Finally, we feature a review of the recently-published field guide to the Birds of the Indonesian Archipelago, which covers over 1,400 species, and will no doubt prove to be an indispensable reference for many years to come.