Philippine
Daily Inquirer / 07:24 AM January 15, 2019
SURPRISE
VISITORS Three black-faced spoonbills fly over Bangkung Malapad islet in
Sasmuan town, Pampanga province, on Sunday, a once-in-a-century sighting that
has become a cause for celebration among local bird watchers. —PHOTO COURTESY
OF DON GEOFF TABARANZA/WILD BIRD PHOTOGRAPHERS OF THE PHILIPPINES
Three
globally endangered black-faced spoonbills (Platalea minor) were seen flying
over Bangkung Malapad islet in Sasmuan town, Pampanga province, on Jan. 12,
more than 100 years after its last recorded sighting in Manila Bay.
The bird
species is a rare migrant in the Philippines, which is within its confirmed
wintering range along with coastal areas in China (including Hong Kong and
Macau), Japan, South Korea, Taiwan, Vietnam, Cambodia and Thailand.
“Philippine sightings of the black-faced
spoonbill in the past decade have relied on citizen science,” said Arne Jensen,
an associate expert of Wetlands International and records committee chair of
the Wild Bird Club of the Philippines (WBCP).
These are
limited from one to three reports from Puerto Princesa City in Palawan
province; Candaba in Pampanga; Bicol River Estuary; Olango Island in Cebu
province; and Batan Island in Batanes province, according to the WBCP and the
International Black-faced Spoonbill Working Group of the East
Asian-Australasian Flyway Partnership.
No comments:
Post a Comment