Waterbird census conducted in Antique

AFTER a human population census, the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) now comes a census for waterbirds in Western Visayas.

DENR Regional Executive Director Julian Amador said the census conducted by the Asian Waterbird Census (AWC) annually, will show the importance of wetlands such as marshes, peatlands, mangroves, and coral reefs in reducing the impacts of climate change and significantly in monitoring the presence of bird flu.

The census showed that Antique marshlands are hosting 4,532 waterbird species.

Amador said the census recently concluded in the province of Antique will also be conducted in other provinces of the region.

During the counting in different migratory sites, the province recorded the migratory bird species identified as Cinnamon Bittern, Yellow Bittern, Cattle Egret, Little Egret, Barred Rail, Pacific Golden Plover, Little Ringed Plover, Kentish Plover, Unidentified Shorebirds, Common Sandpiper, Striated Heron, Black Winged Stilt, Terek Sandpiper, unidentified Egret and terns.

Amador said Cattle Egrets count the highest population among migratory birds at 3,381. Unidentified Egrets came second at 567. However, a decrease of 602 was noticed this year.

The drop must have been due to dry ponds and paddies caused by the adverse effects of El Niño that hit the country early this year, Amador said. (Lydia C. Pendon)

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