Seminar and Training on Shorebird Banding for Bird Conservationists at Trisik Beach, Kulon Progo, Special Region of Yogyakarta, Indonesia

2022 EAAFP Small Grant Fund Project by Ahmad Zulfikar Abdullah Endemic Indonesia Society Mist net installation practice © Endemic Indonesia Society Birdbanding is a technique used to study wild birds which had been applied internationally in numerous researches and requires a distinct set of skills and expertise, including equipment use, bird safety, and alertness during the entire process. Bird banding has been a regular activity in Indonesia since the 1950s, and is supervised by the Indonesian Bird Banding Scheme (IBBS). Since 2010, bird banding groups have emerged from different cities including Bogor, Yogyakarta, and Surabaya. However, the majority of these groups have failed to maintain a consistent program for the past few years, which resulted in the absence of new bird banding activists. This is shown by the stagnant number of licensed bird bander in Indonesia. With support from the EAAFP Small Grant Fund for Working Groups and Task Forces, Endemic Indonesia Society organized a bird banding-focused event through seminars and training. This event, which was held on November 19-23, 2022, has been conducted in Yogyakarta due to its ease of access and could involve the active bird banding community, Jogja Birdbanding Club. We believe that reintroducing bird banding through seminars and hands-on workshops to bird conservation activists, especially the younger age group, is urgently needed to ensure the continuity of bird banding scheme in Indonesia as well as keeping information on bird migration updated.   Seminar The first plan for the seminar, which was held offline, was changed to online in order to reach more participants. This seminar has presented speakers from ornithology experts, especially those related to bird banding and wetlands. Participants who attended the event came from various backgrounds such as bird researchers, bird watchers, university students, local NGOs, government staff especially in the environment sector, and the local community.   Presented seminar topics including : National and Global Perspective of Bird Banding Speaker: Prof. Dr. Dewi Malia Prawiradilaga, MSc., PhD. (National Research and Innovation Agency; Indonesian Bird Banding Scheme) Bird Banding Techniques & Application in Research Speaker: Ign. Pramana Yuda, Ph.D. (Lecture of Atma Jaya Yogyakarta University; President of Indonesian Ornithologists Union) Wetlands and Migratory Bird Conservation Speaker : Ragil Satriyo Gumilang, S.Hut., M.Si. (Wetlands International Indonesia) Goverment’s Role in Migratory Bird Conservation in Trisik Beach Speaker: Tri Dibyo Sumbogo (Natural Resources Conservation Agency of Yogyakarta) First Speaker Second Speaker Third Speaker Fourth Speaker The seminar that was held one day before the training went successfully. Discussions during the seminar showed that the topics presented by the speakers were well understood by the participants. From this seminar, it can be concluded that wetland conservation is generally known by the public, but it's the exact opposite in bird banding. It needs to be collaborative activities that involve many stakeholders if we want to apply this method to support bird and habitat conservation programs.   Training The training was attended by 20 participants who had registered and been selected. This activity was assisted by trainers and assistants who have bird banding licenses issued by the Indonesian Bird Banding Scheme. The main trainer was Iwan Febrianto from the Yayasan Ekologi Satwa Liar Indonesia. Participants came from various backgrounds such as students, lecturers, NGO activists, bird watchers, and veterinarians. These activities were divided into two stages. The first stage was conducted twice, in July and September, with passerine birds as the target. This stage aimed to introduce and familiarise the participants with bird banding techniques. Some of the birds that were successfully tagged including: Actitis hypoleucos, Alophoixus bres, Arachnothera longirostra, Cinnyris ornatus, Halcyon cyanoventris, Lonchura leucogastroides, Orthotomus sutorius, Passer montanus, Pellorneum capistratum.   Bird banding in July Introduce mist net installation Bird tagging Halcyon cyanoventris Bird banding in September Bird measurements Actitis hypoleucos   Orthotomus sutorius   The second stage, training with shorebird targets, was conducted in November in Trisik beach area and Progo River estuary. Both locations become an ideal location for our training program due to its easy access and long history of shorebird records. Briefing for participants Mist net installation practice Mist net installation practice   Mist net installation practice During the four days of training, it was raining almost every evening and night with strong winds. This condition causes the installation of nets to become not optimal considering that shorebird banding is ideally carried out at night. The training was maximized in the morning and afternoon by targeting birds in the location, which were mostly passerine birds. Some of the birds that were successfully tagged including: Alcedo coerulescens, Anthreptes malacensis, Cisticola juncidis, Geopelia striata, Lonchura leucogastroides, Lonchura punctulata, Orthotomus sutorius, Passer montanus, Prinia inornata, Turnix suscitator. Calidris alba Calidris melanotos Phalaropus fulicaria Philomachus pugnax The conclusion from these events is that there are needs to be encouragement in the form of continuous activities to optimize the use of this method, in order to support bird and habitat conservation efforts.   The project was funded through the 2022 EAAFP WG/TF Small Grant Fund. View the report, Click here.

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