Trackers have to be quiet, brave rough terrain and learn to recognise bird calls
Feng Zengkun Straits Times 27 Aug 11;
COLLEGE lecturer Yong Ding Li can recognise at least 1,200 birds by ear.
The 27-year-old trains by listening to an online database of bird calls and by visiting forests around the region.
The skill may seem esoteric but will be useful tomorrow, when the Nature Society conducts its annual census on the autumn migration habits of birds.
Mr Yong Ding Li, on how the more experienced counters rely on their ears because it is faster
The census, one of seven the society conducts each year, helps to track changes in the bird population here.
Last year, volunteers counted 8,666 birds at 28 sites across Singapore during one census.
Mr Yong said more experienced counters rely on their ears because it is faster.
'If you spend all your time looking up at the trees for birds you will miss out on many of them,' he said.
The counters begin their work at 7.30am, when the birds are at their loudest, and stop at 10.30am, when bird activity generally dies down.
Each route of the census is conducted by at least two counters - one to track the birds and the other to take notes.
They follow a fixed route and note every bird they see or hear along the way.
When the tracker spots a new entry, he quietly points it out to the note-taker, who writes the entry in shorthand.
Mr Yong said difficulties include making sure each bird is new and not simply one that has flown further down the counters' path.
To address this, counters have to know if the species like to move around and how quickly they can travel.
He gave the example of babblers, elusive forest birds which like to remain at the same spot. 'So if you hear another one after 100 steps, it's probably not the same one,' he said.
It is a job that requires experience, and the ability to be quiet and careful in rough terrain.
This may be why most of some 200 bird counters here are middle-aged men who have time to spare for the activity, and who do not mind the outdoor nature of the work, counters told The Straits Times.
The Nature Society does not discriminate against novices, and pairs them with more experienced counters.
After each census - a gruelling three-hour test of concentration - the notes are collated by a coordinator at the society and published on its website.
Mr Yong said Bukit Timah Nature Reserve is one of the harder sites because the birds there tend to hide high in the trees and are hard to hear and spot. Experienced counters usually record some 25 to 30 species there.
The lack of experienced manpower is another problem the society faces, a reason for the wide estimates of the migratory birds which pass through or stay in Singapore, which range from 20,000 to 50,000.
Certain areas rich in bird life are also off-limits to the counters, such as the military zones of Pulau Tekong and the stretch of scrub, brushland and secondary forest from Lim Chu Kang to Raffles Country Club, which runs more than 10km.
Mr Yong said he knows there are many bird species in the two areas because he heard them during his national service.
'I mentally took notes when I was marching around,' he said.
Mr Alan Owyong, chairman of the bird group at the Nature Society, said more people have come forward to join the counts in recent year.
'But of course, we always welcome more,' he said.
Birds common to Singapore shores
LONG-TAILED PARAKEET
Common in parks and secondary forests in many parts of Singapore.
Most easily spotted around the Singapore Botanic Gardens and on Pulau Ubin.
COMMON FLAME BACK
A colourful native woodpecker.
Found in parkland and secondary forests throughout Singapore.
WHITE-THROATED KINGFISHER
Common in parkland, scrub and marshy areas in most parts of Singapore.
ORIENTAL HONEY BUZZARD
Common migratory bird of prey in Singapore.
Can be easily seen in the Southern Ridges in October and November.
COMMON IORA
Colourful garden bird found in parks, mangroves and even roadside trees in Singapore.
