BACOLOD CITY — Three rare migratory birds, including a critically endangered species, were found in southern Negros, the Provincial Environment and Natural Resources Office (PENRO) reported on Wednesday.
The bird sightings were made during the 2018 Asian Waterbird Count (AWC) of Negros Occidental Coastal Wetlands Conservation Area (NOCWCA), held from January 6 to 21.
The PENRO) said in a report that the AWC team recorded for the first time the presence of a Eurasian Oystercatcher (Himantopus ostralegus) also known as Pied Oystercatcher, a Black Noddy (Anous worcesteri worcesteri), and the critically endangered Spoonbill Sandpiper (Calidris pygmea) in the NOCWCA site.
The lone Eurasian Oystercatcher was photographed by Andrew Ross Reintar of Philippines Biodiversity Conservation Foundation Inc. for the first time in Negros Island on January 15. The bird was feeding along the estuary of Ilog wetlands.
“This is the first photograph of the Oystercatcher,” said Rosie Pablico, manager of NOCWCA Ramsar Site.
She said the pictures taken validate the first record where three birds were seen in relatively the same site by Lucia Salazar of Community Environment and Natural Resources-Kabankalan City in January 2008.
The Black Noddy, a black bird with relatively long, slender bird with a small patch of white on its forehead, was observed for the first time in Negros Island last January 13, flying along the waterline of Barangay Tibsoc-San Juan in San Enrique town.
The Spoonbill Sandpiper was sighted for the first time in the Philippines also in Barangay Tibsoc-San Juan last January 6.
In Pulupandan town, the presence of three male Eurasian Wigeons (Mareca Penelope) were recorded last January 19. The bird was first reported in Ilog wetlands in 2013 during the Annual Asian Waterbird Census, but this was the first time three birds were photographed.
According to PENRO-Negros Occidental, the recent sightings bring the total number of species of waterbirds in the NOCWCA site to 79 species.
These also include three endangered Far Eastern Curlew (Numenius madagascariensis), Great Knot (Limosa limosa) and Nordmann’s or Spotted Greenshank (Tringa guttifer) and two vulnerable Philippine Duck (Anas luzonica) and Chinese Egret (Egretta eulophotes).
“The presence of these rare migrants further highlights the importance of the Negros wetlands as feeding grounds of migratory birds,” said Lisa Paguntalan of Philippines Biodiversity Conservation Foundation Inc.
Provincial Environment Management Officer Wilfred Ramon Peñalosa said the strong commitment and support of the provincial government and the local government units in Negros Occidental helped protect the province’s wetlands.
The AWC is an annual event where over 6,100 sites in 27 countries along the East Asian Australasian Flyway Network simultaneously count migratory birds.
The event is spearheaded by Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) and participated mostly by volunteers.
NOCWCA, which has a continuous coastline of 109.52 kilometers located in southern Negros, was declared as Ramsar Site 2271 worldwide and the seventh in the Philippines in 2016.
In January 2017, NOCWCA was also declared as an East Asian-Australasian Flyway site.
DENR records showed the NOCWCA encompasses 52 coastal barangays in 10 local government units, including the cities of Bago, Himamaylan, Kabankalan, and the municipalities of Pulupandan, Valladolid, San Enrique, Pontevedra, Hinigaran, Binalbagan, and Ilog. (Nanette Guadalquiver/PNA)
