BirdWatching: Rare and Unique birds in Belum-Temenggor forest

By TAN CHENG LI.

New finds in the Belum-Temenggor forest give more grounds to preserve the forest.

SCIENTISTS have long believed that the Belum-Temenggor forest in Perak harbours countless rare and unique species, and recent findings back up this belief. The area’s 274 species-strong bird list has been bolstered by yet another one – the long-tailed jaeger (Stercorarius longicaudus).

In early June, ornithologist Lim Kim Chye and his wife, Lim Swee Yian, spotted the bird swimming feebly in Temenggor Lake.

The long-tailed jaeger is a sea bird which breeds in the dry tundra of Russia, Alaska and Canada. To escape the bitter winter cold there, it seeks refuge in areas in the south Pacific, making it a very rare visitor to Malaysia.

The jaeger or skua is a sea bird which breeds in the dry tundra of Russia, Alaska and Canada. To escape the bitter cold winter there, it seeks refuge in areas in the south Pacific, making it a very rare visitor in Malaysia. The species was spotted only one other time –near Tioman Island in 1986.

They normally visit open seas far from land, so it was a great surprise to the Lims, both Malaysian Nature Society (MNS) volunteers surveying hornbills in Belum-Temenggor, to find a jaeger stranded in the middle of Temenggor Lake which is some 100km from the closest seashore.

Hornbills such as the great hornbill build nests in holes found in old tall trees. --Pictures by Lim Kim Chye

“The adult hornbills were very wary and silent when approaching the nest tree and would not go directly to the nest hole but will take several minutes, before going to feed the chick,” he says.

Started in 2004, the MNS hornbill survey aims to identify the birds’ feeding, nesting and roosting sites and conservation needs, especially that of the globally threatened plain-pouched hornbill.

The sightings of the jaeger and great hornbill nest further support Belum-Temenggor’s position as an Important Bird Area known globally for its high bird diversity.

It hosts all the 10 hornbill species found in Malaysia and has one of the world’s greatest concentrations of hornbills. Its old growth forest rich with fig and other large trees is most suitable for hornbills, which feed on figs and build nests in mature trees.

However, wildlife in the 130 million-year-old forest, including the hornbills, now face an uncertain future as the Temenggor forest is being logged. The MNS has urged the Perak Government to stop the deforestation to protect the forest’s unique biodiversity.

...protect and safeguard Temenggor forest, its habitants and birds...