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Management of Maliau Basin Conservation Area Sabah, Malaysia

TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE REPORT No. 12

Fieldwork Report: Diversity and Abundance of Birds Community at Agathis Camp, Maliau Basin, Sabah

December 2000

Author: Alim Biun & Maklarin Lakim Sabah Parks, Research & Education Division P.O.Box 10626, MY 88806 Kota Kinabalu, Sabah, Malaysia Tel: +6088211881 Fax: +6088211001/211585 Phone: +45 86180866 (work), +45 86195232 (home) DIVERSITY AND ABUNDANCE OF BIRDS COMMUNITY AT AGA THIS CAMP, MALIAU BASIN, SABAH.

Alim Biun& MaklarinLakim Research& EducationDivision, SabahParks.

1. INTRODUCnON The first proposed visit to Maliau was scheduled in July 2000. During this visit we planned to do general survey to various accessible area for mistnetting birds within the Maliau Basin Conservation Area. This plan was however not materialised due to unsettled agreement regarding this joint venture project as well as time constraints due to other commitments with the SabahParks. Without such preliminary survey, field procedure for this survey must be planned accordingly without an overview of the study sites within Maliau Basin. The suggestion of Mr. Hans Moeller to start the sampling at Agathis Camp had been obviously worthwhile in helping this fieldwork fruitfull. At least the first fieldwork to the 8: easiest accessibility of all possible survey localities has also provide an overview for the whole area.

The visit to Maliau Basin ConservationArea is our first time and this remote area was quite alien to us. The first day travelling by fourwheel drive vehicle from Tawau, we missed the Luasong Forestry Center and missedthe junction to Maliau which brought us to Pinangah Forest Reserve rather than to Maliau Basin. Some logging camp workers we encountered along the trunk road have also wrong impression of Maliau, which was misunderstood with Maliau River in Telupid. After about 4 hours journey from Tawau, we had to get back to Luasong Forestry Center which we have missed earlier in the afternoon. Thereafter we managed to go through proper access road of Maliau Basin through Kalabakan road with guidance from LFC staff. We reached the Security Gatehouse at midnight and stayed over a night there.

Maliau Basin Conservation Area is a remote lowland tropical area. Our first impression in the first morning at Maliau was the call of gibbons and helmeted hombills as heard from the Security Gatehouse. It was quite similar with Danum Valley which is also a remote area. The remotenesshas preserved such area from any disturbances or at least keep such forest destruction to minimum level. The least disturbed forest habours a relatively abundanceand diverse wildlife including birds. From this view point, we were quite certain to experience an interesting findings during the fieldwork ahead. On the other hand we were also aware of the difficulty of catching birds as proved during an expedition to Imbak Valley in early July. Since this areas are close to each other we were also expected a mix of luck in our quest to survey birds in this remote area.

2. OBJECTIVE

This fieldwork aimed to document the diversity and abundace of birds community in Agathis Camp which is part of various pristine habitats within the Maliau Basin Conservation Area (MBCA). The documentation was made through mist-netting and observation. The fieldwork provides a checklist of birds of MBCA which is proved incomplete as a new . species occurrence record is still happen. This first visit is part of a series of 5 fieldworks conducted at MBCA in 2000- 2001.

3. STUDY SITE

This fieldwork was conducted at the Agathis Camp (AC) which is located at the sourthern most of the Maliau Basin ConservationArea, about 20 km to the north of Security Gate. AC is obviously the first and closets accessto a pristine tropical rainforest within the Maliau Basin Conservation Area. Our stay at AC were made pretty comfortable since the previous expedition camp is still well maintained for researchpurpose by the Maliau project staff. Small river with about 15 meters width is the only source of water at this camp. This camp is accessible by fourwheel drive vehicle from Security Gate which made logistical agrrangementsare rather easy.We only have to work for less then 500 meters from the camp when the road is very slippery and unaccessibleto our vehicle.

The Agathis Camp lies at about 500 meters above sea level and generally covered with lowland dipterocarp forest. The interesting feature of the forest surrounding AC is apparent abundance of agathis trees among other dipterocarps. This site characterized by several habitats such as riverine, ridgetop, open area, dense forest as well as tall dipterocarp trees. Such habitats provide various options of shelter to numerious species of birds in particular. The buffer zone in the vicinity of AC is an old secondary forest selective logged over which is characterized by open canopy cover. This kind of habitat is suitable to various birds specieswhich may help to enrich the area in terms of birds diversity. Old logging roads provide acessinto this particular habitat for the purpose of survey. This is important in order to compare birds communities in varous habitat within the area.

4. METHODOLOGY

Data gathering in the field involved 4 techniquesnamely; mist-netting, point sampling, transect survey and general observation. Data recording were conducted at day time between f 0600 hrs. to 1800 hrs. for the 6 consecutive days in the field. Schedule of activities is shown in Appendix 3.

Mist-netting of birds was the main activities. Three different habitat namely slope, ridge and open area were choosen for mist-netting stations. In every stations 10 mistnets were placed in a single line with 5 units of twin nets. Mist-nets used were Japan made with size of24 meters x 2.6 meters with 4 pockets. All the nets were continuously open from 0630 am until 0530 pm. during the 6 days trapping efforts. The nets checked in 2 hours interval at 0800 am, 1000 am, 1200 am, 0200 pm and 0400 pm. Three fieldcrews were employed to carry out this procedure. Birds caught in the nets were brought to the camp for standard measurementswhich included; total length, weight, tail length, tarsus length and beak. The species,number of nets and pocket level of capture were also recorded. The birds then ringed with metal ring with particular number and marked' SabahParks' before released.

In between checking and monitoring of mist-nets, fieldcrews involved were also carrying out Point Sampling procedure as well as general observation in the vicinity of Agathis Camp. Point sampling procedure require a lone observer to sit quitely at a randomly . selected point in the forest over a 5 minutes period and observing any bird species mostly understorey birds that seenfrom the point (Rodgers, 1991). Birds observed recorded in terms of species,distance from observer, height from the ground and other associatednotes related to birds behaviour. The general observation is an ad libitum procedure which require no specific regulation. This procedure intended for the production of 20 checklists of birds as recommended by MacKinnon & Phillipps (1993). This is a simple methods hence usefull to estimate birds abundance and prediction of total species number in a shorter period of observation.

Transect survey method was employed in order to cover a more wide area of survey (Rodgers, 1991). The last 2 persons of the fieldcrew employed to walk slowly along existing trail with total length between 5 to 10 km per day. The trails selected during this fieldwork were AC-CTH trail and AC-GC, both are ridge trails. In addition to that, the secondary forest in buffer zone were also surveyed by walking along existing old logging roads at Pick- up Points to KM18.5. Data recorded during the survey included; date, time, weather, location, spp. encountered, no. of individual (seen, est.), canopy layer (emergence, upper, middle, lower, understory), activity (feeding, foraging, flying, grooming, resting, calling, others), perpendicular distance, notes (feeding ecology; food spp., feeding canopy). Only large birds such as hornbills, pheasants,trogons, kingfishers, woodpeckers and other rare birds were taken into account for density calculation. Other birds speciesas well as wildlife in general were also recorded during survey. Along the trails, any interesting findings were marked with flagging ribbon. Associated notes related to the findings were jotted down on ribbon.

Fieldwork equipments used during this fieldwork included; binoculars (Leica 10x40BA), camera (Nikon), compass/clinometer, measure tape, wrist watch, GPS, MBCA map, data sheets/ notes book, pen! pencil, marker pen, flagging ribbon, rope, wighing, measure tape/ verneer, 30 pcs mist-nets and metal bird rings marked with number and 'Sabah Parks'. Identification of birds were referred to Smythies (1999) and MacKinnon & Phillipps (1993) while mammalswere referred to Payne et al. (1985).

5. RESULTS & DISCUSSIONS

All in all 109 speciesof birds were recorded during this fieldwork. These including 24 species of birds which were a new occurrence record for Maliau Basin area, 5 endemic species to Borneo and 2 migrant species.At present, a total of 189 speciesof birds has been recorded in Maliau Basin. From this list a total of 85 species from previous findings were recovered during the course of this fieldwork. Checklist of birds with associated notes is given in Appendix 1.

5.1 Mistnetting

Mistnetting activity was interesting and quite productive with around 20 captures per day. A total of 110 individuals from 38 specieswere ringed and released at Agathis Camp. Recaptures were mad upon 9 individuals of birds. Capture from the 3 mistnetting sites with slightly different habitat and topographical features is shown in Table 1. Capture effort or "Net hours" is 1650 (3 sites x 10 mistnets (12 m x 2.6m (4 pockets) x 11 hours x 5 days) (see Keyes & Grue, 1982). Capture successper unit effort is therefore 110/ 1650 = 0.067. All of . the 3 sites are more or less caught similar number of birds. However, more bird specieswere caught in open area compared to ridge top and slope area. Most of the capture were involved adult birds (80 individuals) compared to juvenile birds (only 30 individuals).

Table 1. Number of capture from different misnetting sites.

Mistnettingsites No. of bird individuals No. of species first capture_I Recapture Total A. 810 e 30 1 31 14 B. Rid e 40 4 44 19 ~pen Area 31 4 35 21 Total 101 9 110 38 (16 overlapped)

Little spiderhunter (Arachnothera longirostra) and grey-chested jungle flycatcher (Rhinomyias umbratilis) were dominated the capture with 15 and 14 individuals respectively. Spotted fantail (Rhipidura perlata) and hairy-backed bulbul (Tricholestes criniger) captured in 6 occasions whilst, Asian paradise flycatcher (Terpsiphone paradisi) and striped wren babbler (Kenopia striata) in 5 occasions. Chestnut-winged babbler (Stachyris erythroptera), yellow-breasted flowerpecker (Prionochilus maculatus) caught in 4 occasions. Rest of the 30 species,caught less than 4 times.

5.2 Point Sampling

Point sampling methods were conducted in various points surrounding Agathis camp. A total of 51 points randomly selectedwere done in various forest habitats. In the whole, 61 species mostly understory bird specieswere recorded. The most frequent species recorded was grey-chestedjungle flycatcher (Rhinomyias umbratilis) followed by yellow-bellied bulbul (Alophoixus phaeocephalus), little spiderhunter (Arachnothera longirostra), spotted fantail (Rhipidura perlata) and rufous-tailed tailorbird (Orthotomus sericeus). The other 56 bird specieswere recorded less than 6 individuals which shows the high diversity of birds in the area. The sample were actually very small for density calculation. Only 5 speciesrecorded in more than 7 individuals. For the purpose of comparison between sites, density of these particular species were calculated on trial basis (Rodgers, 1991). The result was however quite illogical which is believed due to a very small sample size (Table 2). Spotted fantail is the highest density followed by grey-chestedjungle flycatcher and little spiderhunter. Bird diversity is obviously high despite lack of individuals representingspecies recorded.

. 5.3 Twenty SpeciesChecklist

Checklisting of birds were the main activities during general observation in the vicinity of mistnetting sites. A total of 9 accumulated checklist of '20 species checklist' of birds were successfullymade during the 6 days fieldwork at Agathis Camp. Cumulative total number of species from these checklists is 85 species.The species discovery curve is shown in Figure 1. The curve indicates a quite high abundanceof bird community within Agathis Camp which is typical to pristine tropical rainforest habitats.

(I) GI .~ 0- (I) '0 ... GI ,g E ~ z

Figure Bird speciesdiscovery curve for Agathis Camp, Maliau Basin.

The most frequent species recorded on the checklist were great argus (Argusianus argus), helmeted hornbill (Buceros vigil), black-and-yellow broadbill (Eurylaimus ochromalus), chestnut-romped babbler (Stachyris maculata), little barbet (Megalaima austral is) and gold-whiskered barbet (Megalaima henricii). All of these species recorded more than 5 times in the checklist. Great argus and helmeted hornbill are the most frequent speciesrecorded with 9 and 8 times respectively. Their abundanceis however subject to bias due to their conspicious call in the forest which help to promote their presence to the observer. The other 4 speciesare also characterizedby their loud call in the forest.

t Birds with moderate abundance included little spiderhunter (Arachnotera longirostra), grey-chestedjungle flycatcher (Rhinomyias umbratilis), red bearded bee-eater (Nyctyornis amictus), hairy-backed bulbul (Tricholestes criniger), white-chested babbler (Trichastoma rostratum) and crimson-winged woodpecker (Picus puniceus). These species appeared 4 times in the checklist. The other 13 species recorded 3 times which includes rhinocerous hornbill (Buceros rhinoceros), white-bellied woodpecker (Dryocopus javensis), scally crowned babbler (Malacopteron cinereum), blue-crowned hanging parrot (Loriculus galgulus) and green broadbill (Calyptomena viridis). Other species rocorded less than 3 times with a total of 44 speciesrecorded only once throughout the field work. Among these species included rare Bornean bristlehead (pityriasis gymnocephala), wreathed hornbill (Aceros undulatus), bushy creasted hornbill (Anorrhinus galeritus), red-naped trogon (Harpactes kasumba), Bornean barbet (Megalaima eximia), Asian paradise flycatcher (Terpsiphone paradisi), banded kingfisher (Lacedo pulchella) and large green pigeon (Treron capellei).

5.4 Transect Survey . Transect survey methods were made twice at forested area and similarly at secondary forest by walking along the old logging roads in the vicinity of Agathis Camp. From the 4 days survey, we managed to cover a total of approximately 33 kilometers route with an average around 8.25 kIn daily. Eighty (80) recordings were made upon 30 species of birds during the course of survey. Frequencyof record for any particular specieswas however low. The most frequent species recorded is great argus (Argusianus argus) with 11 records, followed by helmeted hornbill (Buceros vigil) and rhinoceros hornbill (Buceros rhinoceros) both with 9 records. Other two species of hornbill namely; bushy-crested hornbill (Anorrhinus galeritus) and wreathed hornbill (Aceros undulatus) were recorded 5 times. In addition, yellow-crowned barbet and hill myna (Gracula religiosa) were recorded 4 times. The other 22 mostly smaller bird specieswere recorded twice or less and not relevent for density calculation.

Sample is too small for density estimates for birds observed. Frequency histograms cannot be drawn for estimating bird densities since record on any particular species is less ~ than 40 (Mikol, 1980; Rogers, 1991; Fowler & Cohen 1992). However, for the sake of comparative density estimate for larger birds in diffemet locations, calculation were made based on meanof perpendiculardistance to obtain sampling area for selected species.Density estimates for 8 species of birds is shown in Table 3. Two species of hombill namely rhinoceros hombill (Buceros rhinoceros) and wreathed hombill (Aceros undulatus) are the highest density in the area. On the other hand, great argus (Argusianus argus) and helmeted hombill (Buceros vigil) which were very common and easyto locate through their loud calls appeared lower in density.

Table 3. Density estimates for 8 speciesof birds.

t

Notes: * Densityestimates, D= n/2XY; (y= total length oftransect=33 kIn; Ppd.=perpendicular).

5.5 General Observation

Apart from birds, any speciesof wildlife encountered throughout the fieldwork were also recorded. Maliau Basin is obviously rich with wildlife particularly mammals. A total of 30 species of mammals were recorded by means of direct and indirect encounter (see Appendix 2). Direct encounter through sightings were involved 3 species of primates (Hylobates muelleri, Presbytis rubicunda and Presbytis hosei), 4 species of unggulates (Cervus unicolor, Muntiacus muntjak, Muntiacus atherodes, Tragulus napu and Tragulus javanicus), 4 species of squirrels (Ratufa affinis, Callosciurus prevostii, Excilisciurus exilis, Tupaia tana and Aeromys thomasi), 1 speciesof pig (Sus barbatus) and 1 speciesof short-nosed fruit bat (Cynopterus brachyotis). The remaining 3 species were recorded indirectly comprised of elephant (Elephas maximus), sun bear (Helarctos malayanus) and leopard cat (Felis bengalensis)which were detected through their footprints.

Documentation on other group of animals such as reptiles, amphibians and fishes were limited due to lack of specimenscollection efforts. These animals seemedscarce in this area despite extensive exploration during fieldwork. Only occasional calling of gecko (Gecko sp.) were noted in the forest. Common reptiles such as diurnal green vine snakes (Ahaetulla prasina) or monitor lizard (Varanus salvator) which were normally easy to encounter were not found during this fieldwork. Lack of sources of permanent water such as large river in the vicinity of Agathis camp is believed the main factor contributes to this scarcity. Apart of reptiles, some species of frogs were encountered. These included Metaphrynella sundana, a small cryptic species. Calling of unidentified species were also heard at night but cannnot be identified. It is difficult to ensure the speciespresence of this 8 cryptic animals without collecting specimenfor further identification in the laboratory.

7. CONCLUSION

Birds community surrounding Agathis Camp is apparently diverse and abundance. This is typical to remote pristine lowland tropical rainforest. Although old logging road existed in the area, the routes are limited to certain part of this area. Disturbance of habitat is minimum and the area is well protected from any kind of encroachment. We intended to do the next fieldwort at Belian Camp which is located in the west side of Maliau Basin and expected an overwhelming results.

Acknowledgements

We would like to thank Datuk Lamri Ali and Dr. Jamili Nais for their support and encouragementson this project. We also indebt to Dr. Waidi Sinun and Mr. Hans S. Moeller from 8 ICSB for providing fund and oppurtunity to us to conduct this project at Maliau Basin. Our activities in the field were made easy through many helps from Mr. Hans S. Moeller and Jadda Suhaimi. Mr Hans joined us most of the fieldwork period. We also thanks David Sumpongol, Benedict Butit and Suati Selimon for their companion during field work and a long journey to MBCA. Not least, thanks to Biseh, Azrul Momin and Muhammad Sulaiman who were at Agathis Camp provide significant help to keep us feel like at home throughout the course of this fieldwork.

REFERENCES

Fowler, J. & Cohen, L. (1992). PracticalStatisticsjorFieldBiology. John Wiley & Sons. Keyes, B.E. & C.E. Grue (1982). Capturing birds with mist-nets: A review. North American Bird Bander, 7(1): 2-14. MacKinnon, J. & K. Phillipps (1993). A Field Guide to the Birds of Borneo, Sumatra, Java and Bali. Oxford University PressInc., New York. Mikol, S.A. (1980). Field Guidelinesfor Using Transectsto Sample Nongame Bird Populations. Report for Bilogical Services, Fish & Wildlife Service, US Deparmrnt of the Interior, WashingtonD.C. Payne, J., C.M. Francis & K. Phillipps (1985). Mammals ofBorneo. WWF Malaysia with SabahSociety, Kuala Lumpur. Rodgers, W.A. (1991). Techniquesfor Wildlife Censusin India: A FieldManual. Technical Manual, Wildlife Institute of India. Smythies,B.E. (1999). The Birds ofBorneo (4th edition). Natural History Publications (Borneo), Kota Kinabalu. Appendix 1

Checklist of birds recorded at Agathis Camp, Maliau Basin ConservationArea.

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Prionochi/us xantho E !

96 CrestedTreeswift ennis x Dr 97 WhiskeredTreeswift I~ jCinnamon~DedTrolZon IHaroactesorrhoohaeus x x or I 99 'Orange-breasted Trogon IHaroactes- oreskios x x I1QOIRed-nanec!:!:!:2gs>n -- IHaroacteskasumba x x 1101 !Scarlet-rumoed Trol!on IHaroactesduvaaucelii x x I 102 I Grev Wagtail lMotacilla cinerea x M ecker res tristis x x dDecker niceus x x IIOsIG!eat Slaty Woodp~cker IMulleriDicus IJulverulentus x - 1106jMaroo~ WoodDecker IBlythioicus ~~inosus x I 107 I Olive-backed Woodpecker IDinovium rafflesii x x or 1108 IWhite-bcllied Woodoecker x x lO9lChestnut-crested Yuhina Yuhinaeveretti x x E

~: M-migrant; E- endemicto Borneo;nr- newoccurrence record for Maliau Obs.-observed; Hrd.- heard;Mark- indirectobservation. 8

8

~i--:;--lIDryocopu~avensisI Appendix 2. List of wildlife encountered at Agathis Camp l# JCOmmonham~ "v c, J"Species~~e c'.Mark/Notes c I Bornean Gibbon I Hvlobate~muellerj i ~ Red-leafMonkev~ I Pr~vtis rubicund a GreV=Ieaf M~nkevs j~resbytis hosei 4 Giant SQuirrel Ratufaaffini~ 5 I~evost's Squirrel Callosciurusorevosti 6 I Low's Squirrel I Sundasciurus Jowi I Brooke's SQuirrel I Sundasciurus brookei '_8 I Plain Pigmy Sa!!irrel I ExClllsciurus exilis Treeshrew I Tupaia t~a 10 I SundaS~ I~ocidura monticola x 11 I~potted Giant Flying SQ~el I. Petauri~ eleJ!~s x 12 I Red Giant FI~g Squirrel P etaJ!!j§ faDe tauri s ta x 13 I Thom~ Flying Squirrel A£romys thomasi x I 14 I~ort-tailed Monl!oose Herpestesbrachvuru~ x I 15 OrientalSmall-clawed otter Aonyxcinerea x Binturong Arctitis binturoni! x !LlComon PorcuDine I Herpestes brachvuru~ 18 I SmalljQothed Palm Civet I Arcf2K!;!fidia trivirgata '19 I. Malav Civet I Vivera tanp:alunp:a x 120 Leopardcat I Fe/is ~KE/ensis x CloudedLeonard I~fe/is nebu/osa x Lar~erMouse Deer .I Tra5?;Ulus ;avanicus x x LesserMouse Deer I Tra~lus nap~ x x I Red Muntiak (Barkin~ Deer) J~ntiacus muntjak x x I LJ I Yellow Mu~taK Muntiacusatherodes x x '_26 I Sarnbar Deer Cervusunicolor x I Bearded Pi~ I Sus barbatus x x JHelarctos malayanus x I Bosiavanicus x x I Eleohas maximus x ~: Obs.-observed; Hrd.- heard;Mark- indirectobservation.

~L!10bs..l~d..JI_LargeI Appendix 3. Scheduleof activities during fieldwork.

I Date ACiiViw JRemarks 23 Sept.2000 Travellingby 4WD vehiclefrom Stayover a night at TawauHills KinabaluPark to Tawau. Park.

24 Sept.2000 Travellingby 4WD vehiclefrom Tawau ReachedSecurity Gate, MBCA at to Maliau BasinConservation Area. 12:30am, stay overa night at SG.

25 Sept.2000 Getto Agathis Campin the morning. Campingat Agathis Camp Site inspectionfor mistnettingand general observationin the afternoon.

26 Sept.2000 Setup mistnetsat 3 sites. Campingat Agathis Camp. Mistnettion program started ill the afternoon. Transectsurvey to AC-Crn Trail

27 Sept.2000 Mistnettingprogram (day 2). Campingat Agathis Camp Point Samplingmethod. Transectsurvey to AC-GC Trail

28 Sept.2000 Mistnettingprogram (day 3). Campingat Agathis Camp Point Samplingmethod. Transectsurvey to Pick-uppoint, old loggingroad.

29 Sept.2000 Mistnettingprogram (day 4). Campingat Agathis Camp Point Samplingmethod. Transectsurvey to Km 18.5junction, old loggingroad.

30 Sept.2000 Mistnettingprogram (day 5). Campingat Agathis Camp Point Samplingmethod. Generalsurvey to AC-GC trail Closingofmistnets.

01 Oct. 2000 Travelling by 4WD vehicle from Maliau Stayover a night at TawauHills Basin ConservationArea to Tawau Hills Park. Park.

02 Oct. 2000 Travelling by 4WD vehiclefrom Tawau Get backto KinabaluPark. to KinabaluPark. (Next visit to Maliau Basin January2001)