Discovery of waterbird colonies in North Lampung, Sumatra


Abstract
The Tulang Bawang river with its back swamps, in Lampung province, Sumatra, is identified as a habitat of major importance to waterbirds. There are at least two breeding colonies, one of which may prove to be the largest heronry so far discovered in Indonesia, with between 5,000 and 33,000 pairs of herons and egrets. The most abundant species is Javan Pond-heron Ardeola speciosa, and this is only the second breeding colony of this species to be discovered in Sumatra; it may rank as the largest in Indonesia. It is the third colony to be discovered in Sumatra of Great Egret Casmerodius albus. The first breeding records in Sumatra of Night-heron Nycticorax nycticorax were obtained from one colony, and of Oriental Darter Anhinga melanogaster at the second. The region is also probably the most important in Sumatra, if not in the Sundaic region, for Bronze-winged Jacana Metopidius indicus. Recommendations have been made for Nature Reserve status to be designated at the sites of the two colonies, and for a Game Reserve to cover a much wider area of the feeding grounds and fisheries.
It is feared that there has been a major decline in population of both the White-winged Duck Cairina scutulata and the Cotton Pygmy Goose Nettapus coromandelianus, and it is proposed that the latter species should also now be classified as threatened in Indonesia.
Downloads
References
Danielsen, F., Purwoko, A., Silvius, M.J., Skov, H., and W.J.M. Veiheugt. 1991. Breeding colonies of Milky Stork in South Sumatra. Kukila 5 (2): 133-135.
Giesen, W. & Sukotjo 1991. Lake Kerinci and the wetlands of Kerinci Seblat National Park, Sumatra. PHPA/AWB Sumatra Wetland Project Report No. 6, Bogor. 70pp.
Rusila, Y., W. Giesen, Enis Widjanarti & M.J. Silvius. 1994. Reconnaissance survey of the Western Tulang Bawang swamps, Lampung, Sumatra. Bogor: PHPA/AWB-Indonesia.
Lambert, F. 1988. The status of the White-winged Wood Duck in Sumatra, Indonesia. A preliminary assessment. Bogor: PHPA-AWB/Interwader Report No. 4.
Marle, J.G. van and K.H. Voous. 1988. The birds of Sumatra. BOU Checklist No. 10. British Ornithologists's Union, London.
Verheugt, W.J.M., H. Skov & F. Danielsen. 1993. Notes on the birds of the tidal lowlands and floodplains of South Sumatra province, Indonesia. Kukila 6:53-84.
- Authors retain copyright and grant the journal right of first publication with the work simultaneously licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution License that allows others to share the work with an acknowledgement of the work's authorship and initial publication in this journal.
- Authors are able to enter into separate, additional contractual arrangements for the non-exclusive distribution of the journal's published version of the work (e.g., post it to an institutional repository or publish it in a book), with an acknowledgement of its initial publication in this journal.
- Authors are permitted and encouraged to post their work online (e.g., in institutional repositories or on their website) prior to and during the submission process, as it can lead to productive exchanges, as well as earlier and greater citation of published work (See The Effect of Open Access).