Hostname: page-component-78c5997874-4rdpn Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-05T13:47:45.876Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

Population sizes, status and habitat associations of the restricted-range bird species of Sumba, Indonesia

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  11 May 2010

Martin J. Jones
Affiliation:
Conservation Research Group, Dept of Biological Sciences, Manchester Metropolitan University Chester Street, Manchester M1 5GD, U.K
Mark D. Linsley
Affiliation:
Conservation Research Group, Dept of Biological Sciences, Manchester Metropolitan University Chester Street, Manchester M1 5GD, U.K
Stuart J. Marsden
Affiliation:
Conservation Research Group, Dept of Biological Sciences, Manchester Metropolitan University Chester Street, Manchester M1 5GD, U.K
Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Summary

Core share and HTML view are not available for this content. However, as you have access to this content, a full PDF is available via the ‘Save PDF’ action button.

The island of Sumba was visited in 1989 and 1992 with the aim of collecting data on its avifauna. The endemic and other restricted-range bird species are very poorly known and, potentially, at great risk from extinction due to habitat change. Using standardized methods, habitat and bird census data were collected in eight forest areas. Analysis of the habitat data shows that most of the restricted-range species are forest-dependent. The exception is Turnix everetti (Sumba Buttonquail), which is found in open grassland. Discriminant Function Analysis was used to define habitat associations in a more precise and objective way. The species with the most specific requirements are Ptilinopus dohertyi (Red-naped Fruit-dove) and Zoothera dohertyi (Chestnut-backed Thrush), which are associated with primary forest at high altitudes, and Cacatua sulphurea (Sulphur-crested Cockatoo) and Rhyticeros everetti (Sumba Hornbill), which prefer evergreen primary or mature secondary forest at low altitudes. The results of the bird censuses were combined with data on habitat cover from satellite photographs to produce estimates of total population sizes. Among the rarest and most endangered species on Sumba are three which are represented by endemic subspecies: C. sulphurea (estimated population 3,200 birds), Eclectus roratus (Eclectus Parrot) (1,900), Tanygnathus megalorynchos (Great-billed Parrot) (1,700). The rarest endemic species is R. everetti, with a population of approximately 6,500. It is suggested that the census method used – point counts With distance estimates to bird contacts – is the best compromise for multi-species surveys in tropical forests.

Type
Research Article
Copyright
Copyright © Birdlife International 1995

References

Andrew, P. (1992) The birds of Indonesia: a checklist (Peters’ Sequence). Jakarta: Indonesian Ornithological Society.Google Scholar
Bibby, C. J., Burgess, N. D. and Hill, D. A. (1992) Bird census techniques. London: Academic Press.Google Scholar
Bollinger, E. K., Gavin, T. A. and Mclntyre, D. C. (1988) Comparison of transects and circular plots for estimating bobolink densities. J. Wildl. Mgmt. 52: 777786.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Buckland, S. T., Anderson, D. R., Burnham, K. P. and Laake, J. L. (1993) Distance sampling: estimating abundance of biological populations. London: Chapman and Hall.Google Scholar
Bühler, A. and Sutter, E. (1951) Reisebericht und allegemeine Einführung. Verh. Naturf. Ges. Basel 62: 181217.Google Scholar
Büttikofer, J. (1892) On a collection of birds from the islands of Flores, Sumba and Rotti. Notes Leyden Mus. 14: 193207.Google Scholar
Capen, D. E., Fenwick, J. W., Inkley, D. B. and Boynton, A. C. (1986) Multivariate models of songbird habitat in New England forest. Pp. 171175 in Verner, J. A., Morrison, M. L. and Ralph, C. J., eds. Wildlife 2000: modelling habitat relationships of terrestrial vertebrates. Madison: Wisconsin Press.Google Scholar
Dammerman, K. W. (1926a) Een tocht naar Soemba. Batavia (Jakarta): Ind. Com. Wetensch. Onderzoek.Google Scholar
Dammerman, K. W. (1926b) Flora en fauna van Soemba. Trop. Nat. 15: 7382.Google Scholar
DeSante, D. F. (1986) A field test of the variable circular-plot censusing method in a Sierran subalpine forest habitat. Condor 88: 129142.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
FAO (1982) Feasibility studies of potential reserves of Sumba island. UNDP/FAOFO/INS/78/061 (Field rep. 43).Google Scholar
Forshaw, J. M. (1989) Parrots of the world. Third edition. Melbourne: Lansdowne Editions.Google Scholar
Fielding, A. H. (1993) A review of methods used to investigate bird-habitat associations. Report to Scottish Natural Heritage. Contract Number: NCCS/004/92/UPB.Google Scholar
Hartert, E. (1896) An account of the collections of birds made by Mr William Doherty in the Eastern Archipelago. Novit. Zool. 3: 148183.Google Scholar
Hartert, E. (1898) Account of the birds collected in Sumba by Alfred Everett and his native hunters. Novit. Zool. 5: 466476.Google Scholar
Haworth, P. F. and Fielding, A. H. (1988) Conservation and management implications of habitat selection in the merlin Falco columbarius L. in the South Pennines, U.K. Biol. Conserv. 46: 247260.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
ICBP (1992) Putting biodiversity on the map: priority areas for global conservation. Cambridge, U.K.: International Council of Bird Preservation.Google Scholar
Jones, M. J. and Banjaransari, H. (1990) The ecology and conservation of the birds of Sumba and Buru. Preliminary Report. PHPA/ICBP/Manchester Polytechnic.Google Scholar
Jones, M. J., Juhaeni, D., Banjaransari, H., Banham, W., Lace, L. A., Linsley, M. D. and Marsden, S. (1994) The ecology and conservation of the forest birds and butterflies of Sumba. Report to Indonesian Institute of Sciences (Bogor, Indonesia), Directorate of Forest Protection and Nature Conservation (Bogor, Indonesia) and BirdLife International (Cambridge, U.K.).Google Scholar
Juhaeni, D. (1993) Little-known oriental bird: the Sumba Hornbill Rhyticeros everetti. Bull. Oriental Bird Club: 18: 1920.Google Scholar
Kendall, S. B. (1979) Citron-crested Cockatoos in Sumba. Avicult. Mag. 85: 9394.Google Scholar
Laake, J. L., Buckland, S. T., Anderson, D. R. and Burnham, K. P. (1993) Distance user's guide. Fort Collins, U.S.A.: Colorado Cooperative Fish and Wjldlife Research Unit, Colorado State University.Google Scholar
Lambert, F. (1993) Trade, status and management of three parrots in the North Moluccas, Indonesia: White Cockatoo Cacatua alba, Chattering Lory Lorius garrulus and Violeteared Lory Eos squamata. Bird Conserv. Internatn. 3: 145168.Google Scholar
Mace, G., Collar, N., Cooke, J., Gaston, K., Ginsberg, J. Leader Williams, N., Maunder, M. and Milner-Gulland, E. J. (1992) The development of new criteria for listing species on the IUCN Red List. Species 19: 1622.Google Scholar
Marsden, S. J. (1992) The distribution, abundance and habitat preferences of the Salmon crested Cockatoo (Cacatua moluccensis) on Seram, Indonesia. Bird Conserv. Internatn. 2: 714.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Marsden, S. J. (in prep.) The nesting ecology of the parrots and hornbill of Sumba: some implications for species conservation.Google Scholar
Mayr, E. (1944) The birds of Timor and Sumba. Bull. Amer. Mus. Nat. Hist. 83: 123194.Google Scholar
McKnight, A., Jepson, P. and Raharjaningtrah, W. (in prep.) Figures of forest cover on Sumba. BirdLife International/PHPA Indonesia Programme report.Google Scholar
Meyer, A. B. (1882) Ueber Vögel von Einigen der Südöstlichen Inseln des Malayischen Archipels, Insbesondere uber diejenigen Sumba's. Verh. K. K. Zool-bot. Ges. Wein 31 (9): 759774.Google Scholar
Meyer, A. B. (1892) The birds of Sumba. Notes Leyden Mus. 14: 265268.Google Scholar
Rensch, B. (1931) Ueber einige Vogelsammlungen des Buitenzorger Museums von den Kleinen Sunda-Inseln. Treubia 13: 371400.Google Scholar
Reynolds, R. T., Scott, J. M. and Nussbaum, R. A. (1980) A variable circular plot method for estimating bird numbers. Condor 82: 309313.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Rowley, I. and Chapman, G. (1991) The breeding biology, food, social organisation, demography and conservation of the Major Mitchell or Pink Cockatoo Cacatua leadbeateri on the margin of the Western Australian wheatbelt. Aust. J. Zool. 39: 211261.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Sibley, C. G. and Monroe, B. L. (1990) Distribution and taxonomy of birds of the world. New Haven: Yale University Press.Google Scholar
Sutter, E. (1955) Über die Mauser einiger Laufhühnchen und die Rassen von Turnix maculosa und sylvatica im indo-australischen Gebiet. Verh. Naturf. Ges. Basel. 66: 85139.Google Scholar
Torquebiau, E. F. (1986) Mosaic patterns in dipterocarp rain forest in Indonesia and their implications for practical forestry. J. Trop. Ecol. 2: 301325.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Wiens, J. A., Rotenberry, J. T. and Van Home, B. (1987) Habitat occupancy patterns of North American shrubsteppe birds: the effects of spatial scale. Oikos 48: 132147.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
White, C. M. N. and Bruce, M. D. (1986) The birds of Wallacea. London: British Ornithologists’ Union (Checklist 7).Google Scholar
Zieren, M., Yus Rusila Noor, Baltzer M., and Saleh, Najamuddin (1990) Wetlands of Sumba, East Nusa Tenggara: an assessment of values, developments and threats. Bogor, Indonesia: PHPA/AWB.Google Scholar