eBird - my journey to go pass 400 in Malaysia

 

A fantastic world map feature in eBird with my species number – the world is my (birdwatching) oyster 

I am an eBird user. I have been a birdwatcher before eBird was around. I joined my friend during her survey in Fraser Hill back in 1998 when the World Wildlife Fund of Malaysia was about to establish a Nature Centre in the famous “Little England” of Malaysia. The Fraser Hill Survey was a defining moment in my birdwatching life, as it re-ignited my interest in birds, with the Silver-Eared Mesia being the most beautiful montane bird species I have ever seen in Malaysia. “BIRDS - A Photographic Guide to the Birds of Peninsular Malaysia & Singapore” by Morten Strange and Allen J (1999, reprinted version) was my first bird book. Reading it and seeing all 290 species illustrated in pictures mesmerized me and made me want to learn more about the avifauna of Malaysia and Singapore. I went birdwatching with my friends from Malacca and Negeri Sembilan, whom I had met during the first Raptor Watch event in Tanjung Tuan, Port Dickson. Like birds of a feather that flock together, my friends visited me in Johor a few times to explore the marshlands and rivers of Segamat. It was common to see White-Bellied Eagles, Crested Goshawks, Long-tailed Parakeets, Black Hornbills, Black and Red Broadbills, White-Bellied Woodpeckers, Sooty Barbets (formerly known as Brown Barbets) back then. Still, with the encroaching activities of human beings, including sand-mining, construction of a restaurant by the riverside, an abandoned building and logging, it was getting more difficult to see these once-common species. I wished eBird had been around for me to enter the checklists of the lowland birds seen during those visits. I registered my free account with eBird in 2015. eBird Malaysia, a regional portal to engage local birders and grow the eBird community throughout Malaysia, was launched in November 2016. You can read more about that initiative HERE.

 

 Screenshot from eBird Malaysia web portal once I logged into my page

I learned how eBird as a tool helps me track the number of bird species I’ve recorded and entered into my checklists for Malaysia and beyond. Bird sightings contribute to hundreds of conservation decisions and peer-reviewed papers, student projects and help inform bird research worldwide according to eBird science. There are 834 bird species in Malaysia, including Sabah and Sarawak, according to WIKIPEDIA HERE. 16 bird species are endemic, 19 bird species are introduced by humans and a staggering 63 species of which are globally threatened. Gallus gallus  (Red Junglefowl) is one of the bird species introduced from Asia to the world, leading to domesticated chickens – is that a good or bad or even ugly introduction? That question deserves a separate debate altogether.  Since my tally is only 397, I have only seen less than 50% of the total number of bird species in Malaysia, according to eBird. I have gone on a birdwatching trip to Sabah before creating my eBird account. The scribbled notes in my pocketbook of the Birds of Borneo of birds seen during pre-eBird days remain unrecorded in this tool. Sabah is one of my go-to birding destinations once borders in Peninsular Malaysia re-open, which I hope will help me pass 400 species in eBird. In some small way, I hope to contribute towards science and conservation, whilst chasing my birdwatching goal.