Bird diversity of three islands in the straits of Malacca

• Main Authors: Hashim, Rosli, Sofian-Azirun, Mohd, Ramli, R.
• Format: Article
• Published: Faculty of Science, University of Malaya 2008
• Subjects: QH301 Biology
• Online Access: http://eprints.um.edu.my/8311/; http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?eid=2-s2.0-73249144290&partnerID=40&md5=bd93a5c2acd9665742378a0f40908b03

Bird species diversity of three islands (pulau) in the Straits of Malacca was studied in 2004 and 2007. A total of 12 species of birds was recorded from Pulau Perak, 21 species from Pulau Jarak, and 9 species from Pulau Lalang. Avifauna of these islands not only show differences in species diversity but also in community structures. Among the islands, Pulau Jarak had the highest bird diversity while Pulau Perak had the lowest bird diversity. Although Pulau Perak had more birds, this was contributed by the two most abundant species, i.e. Brown Noddy (Anous stolidus) and Brown Booby (Sula leucogaster) which comprised 98.7% of the island's bird population. On other islands, the most abundant species were White-bellied Sea Eagle, Haliaeetus leucogaster (31% in Pulau Jarak and 34.7% in Pulau Lalang) and Pied Imperial Pigeon, Ducula bicolor (17.5% in Pulau Jarak and 30.4% in Pulau Lalang). This study confirms several earlier records on distribution of certain unique and interesting components of the biodiversity of the islands.