Back to nature through bird-watching

Bayu Dwi, Contributor, Jakarta

Annissa, 10, is busy focusing her Nikon binoculars as her mouth moves. "Look, there's three birds on a big tree," she yells happily.

For the elementary school student from Cibinong, West Java, bird-watching is one of her favorite outdoor activities.

"I like camping and birdwatching, both interesting and challenging activities," she said while taking part in a recent bird-watching program organized by the Birdlife International Indonesia Programme in Bogor.

For the program, Anissa took part along with her mother.

"I let my daughter take part in this kind of event to help her get close to the environment," said Dewi, Annissa's mother.

She said that so far, there were no complaints from her daughter even though bird-watching meant waking up early during holidays. "She knows that if she does not wake up early, the birds will be gone by the time she gets there," Dewi said.

With its various forms, unique behavior and attractive colors, birds are interesting to watch.

A parent, Tristan, considered the bird-watching program as the right moment for parents to introduce various objects found in the Bogor Botanical Garden to their children. There, visitors could observe not only trees but also birds, he added.

"I think bird-watching is good for families," said the father of two from Jakarta.

Another parent, graphic designer Yayong P. of PT Corelab Indonesia, considered bird-watching the way to introduce nature to one's family. "By following birdwatching with our family, we can teach our children to love the environment," Yayong said.

Yayong prefers the simplest method of watching birds, asking his two-year-old son to observe without the help of binoculars.

He also urged others to introduce nature to their children early, such as by asking children to watch birds in their neighborhoods, like sparrows. Then, after they have shown their interests, the children could be taught the use of binoculars or a monocular, he said.

"My son can use binoculars and distinguish color," he said proudly. He added that his son always asked names of birds and their families. "It seems like he's more interested in observing nature for real than reading a guidebook."

Apart from improving one's awareness of nature, he said that the activity also strengthened family ties. "I'm busy with my routine jobs at the office and do not have enough time to spend with my child," he said. "But, while participating in this program, I can spend time teaching and discussing various matters with my child while having fun at the same time."

With a large pond surrounded by trees, the Bogor Palace's backyard is an ideal places to bird-watch around the Bogor Botanical Garden. There, children can get closer to birds without disturbing them.

There, visitors will hear the warble and chirp of numerous birds, like kowak-malam abu (Nycticorax nycticorax), tekukur (Streptopelia chinensis), celepuk (Otus lempiji) and thrush (Pycnonotus aurigaster). Behind the dense trees a raja udang (king fisher) twitters and chirps loudly and distinctly. Its bright and shining feathers, a mix of blue, orange and green, make raja udang an attractive bird to watch.

Besides watching birds, visitors can also see fruit-eating bats (Pteropus vampirus). This mouse-like animal flies at night and sleeps in the day by hanging from the branches of trees. Many bats are found hanging on branches of a candlenut (Agathis dammara) tree found in the Palace compound.

A survey in the Bogor Botanical Garden by Bas van Balen, E. T. Margowati and Sudaryanti in 1987 showed there were about 81 kinds of birds such as serindid Jawa, parrot, serak Jawa, celepuk reban, kukuk seloputu, eagle, pecuk ular Asia, Java finch (Munia oryzivora), kowak-malam abu, tekukur and thrush.

Today, however, there are only 43 kinds of birds in the botanical gardens due to the narrowing green corridor between Mount Gede-Pangrango and Mount Salak as a result of ongoing construction works to build new houses, according to Birdlife's technical support coordinator David. Noises coming from vehicles, radios, tape recorders and loudspeakers are other factors responsible for the disappearance of the birds from the botanical garden, he said.