Birds of Bayawan Nature Reserve
During the Dumaguete Literary Festival, our partners from Talarak Foundation and Bayawan Nature Reserve visited our Haring Ibon booth to discuss a new project and a potential visit to Bayawan afterward. I became excited about Bayawan after hearing about the Negros Bleeding-heart (Gallicolumba keayi) from Bird Finder Philippines’ Djop Tabaranza’s tour last year, but it’ll depend on whether we’re not “kapoy” after the book fest, hehe!
Luckily, ganado pa kami! So we visited Bayawan!
Bayawan stands out from other sites I’ve visited in Negros. Unlike the island’s wet forests and high elevations, it’s a dry lowland with limestone terrain. It visually reminds me of PICOP, Mindanao, with a very hot-dry climate like Subic or Pangasinan. During my half-day trip, I recorded around 25 bird species in the area. Of course, we got classic West Visayan endemics like the Visayan Fantail (Rhipidura albiventris), Buff-eared Brown-dove (Phapitreron leucotis nigrorum), Black-belted Flowerpecker (Dicaeum haematostictum), Magnificent Sunbird (Aethopyga magnifica), Visayan Tailorbirds (Orthotomus castaneiceps), and so many Visayan Bulbuls (Hypsipetes guimarasensis)! We also saw a sleeping Philippine Nightjar (Caprimulgus manillensis), several Purple-throated Sunbirds (Leptocoma sperata), quick fly-bys of elegant Pied Imperial Pigeons (Ducula bicolor), and the ever-colorful Pikoy!
The undeniable highlight of the trip was finally seeing the Negros Bleeding-heart! We were incredibly fortunate to have seen one roaming individual, foraging for grub across Bayawan’s leaf-littered (healthy!) limestone forest floor.
In the island of Negros, Bayawan is the only place where you can see the Negros Bleeding-heart, and also the Blue-naped Parrots (Tanygnathus lucionensis) and Pied Imperial Pigeons. All these birds are among the most threatened birds of Negros, where they have suffered due to the island’s very active pet trade. It’s incredible and really inspiring to know that Talarak’s conservation program has since expanded to rescue birds from Negros Island’s pet trade and rehabilitate them for release into Bayawan’s protected reserve.
Daghang Salamat, Matt Ward, Justine Magbanua, TJ G. Alcala, the Talarak Foundation Team, and the staff of Bayawan Nature Reserve, for all the help and support during our visit to Bayawan! We can’t wait for what’s in store soon.
