There are 106 bird species in 568,700 hectare Sebangau National Park, Central Kalimantan. Bird watching has become an exciting ecotourism activity in this park. The morning and the afternoon are the best to see birds feeding, playing & seeking mates. All we need just the binoculars and a bird guidebook to enjoy amazing wild birds.
One of the most interesting location to observing birds is Petak Bahandang Village that situated on the border of Sebangau National Park. The settlement is around three hours’ from Kasongan Port Palangkaraya by ship.
At least 10 bird species can be detected around the forest border nearly the community farms. We can watching rhinoceros hornbills (Bucheros rhinocheros), swallows, greater coucals (Centropus sinensis) and many types of honeyeaters.
At the banks of Katingan River the bird watchers can cruise down the river that more than 200 meters wide, while surveying the behavior of birds. There are brahminy kites (Haliastur indus) – the rare hawks with graceful flight – frequently found perching on the top branches of tall trees.
Hornbills can be finding around peatland forest park. These protected birds active in the morning and afternoon, generally seen in pairs, flying form one branch to another.
The birds can serve as indicator that this area remains in a natural condition with its food supply chain.
The ecosystem of Sebangau National Park composed of 95% peatland. The locals utilized non wood product like rattan, rubber and jelutung resin from the forest. There are thousands orangutans and proboscis monkeys living at Sebangau, however cannot be found around Petak Bahandang Village — the castle of birds.
Reference: Bambang Parlupi, The Jakarta Post, Tuesday, January 15, 2008
Tags: popular science blog
April 3, 2008 at 3:13 am
Indonesia must be a great place if you like birds! Great post.