Bird’s Eye View

Many of us only see rare birds on zoo.  Little did we know that bird watching is already a business in many countries?  Philippines is one of the few countries who have the most of the bird species known and still to be discovered.

Below are a few of the more than 570 species of birds and more or less 180 of them are only found in the Philippines.  The most endangered is the Philippine Eagle.

  • Black-faced coucal Philippine hawk-owl
  • Stripe headed rhabdornis
  • Flame breasted fruit dove
  • Writhed hornbill
  • Philippine serpent eagle
  • Philippine trogon
  • Flame-templed bambler
  • Tarictic hornbill
  • Celestial monarch

Latest rare species that faces high risk of extinction was discovered in Babuyan island on 2004.  It was named “Calayan Rail

The Colasisi is the smallest Philippine Parrot

Bird watching is more than a hobby.  Many of the bird watchers are armed with expensive binoculars, professional cameras with long lenses, light clothing, backpack, hats, etc.  Some even made a career on it.  They hikes in inconvenient places as forest, cemeteries, fields, name it.  Known reference as published by Oxford Press is “The Guide to the Birds of the Philippines,” by Robert S. Kenedy et. al.

For more info on Philippine birds, you can join the Wild Bird Club of the Philippines (WBCP).  You can find them on the net at http://www.birdwatc.ph.  WBCP is also known in helping Department of Environment and Natural Resources Philippines (DENR) in collecting data for the Asian Waterbird Census for its annual global survey on water birds.

Caution.

Don’t catch Bird Flu.  There is an ethical battle cry…”just watch, don’t catch.”

Rules are just simple:

  • Stay away from sick birds
  • Never ever handle dead ones
  • Capture not from the wild

If one follows these simple basic rules then the danger of contracting bird flu is remote.

For more information on bird flu, visit http://www.doh .gov.ph.

Known Bird Watching Sites Outside Metro Manila.

  • Mt. Makiling, Laguna
  • Quezon National Park
  • Angat Watershed Bulacan
  • Subic Freeport Zone, Zambales
  • Mt. Polis, Mountain Province
  • Candaba marshes, Pampanga
  • St. Paul’s Underground River, Palawan
  • Tubbatahha Reefs National Park, Palawan
  • Iwahig Penal Colony, Palawan
  • Ursula Island, Palawan
  • Mt. Kanlaon, Negros
  • Mt. Talinis and lake Balinsasayao, Negros
  • Tabunan, Cebu
  • Olongapo island, Cebu
  • Rajah Sikatuna National Park Bohol
  • Mt. Kitanglad Range, Mindanao
  • Mt. Apo National Park, Mindanao
  • Paper Industries Corp. of the Philippines, Surigao del Sur

There are also in Metro Manila.

  • National Institute of Geological Sciences (NIGS), University of the Philippines, Diliman, Quezon City
  • Manila Film Center, Pasay City
  • American War Memorial, Fort Bonifacio, Taguig
  • Hagonoy Pumping Station, Taguig
  • Tambo Mudflats, Parañaque

Thanks to Mike Lu for his writings to where I gathered many of the above information.

Photos are excerpt on Google Images

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