KOTA KINABALU: Rarely sighted birds like the red naped and scarlet rumped trogons, the white browed sharma and the oriental bay owl are among those captured and recorded by scientists during the 10-day Imbak Canyon Scientific Expedition.
Titol Peter Malim
The expedition took place from Nov 25 to Dec 5 last year.
One of the participants, Sabah Wildlife Department (SWD) officer Titol Peter Malim, said they had recorded all 71 birds said to be found at Imbak Canyon Conservation Area or ICCA.
However, the checklist of birds found at ICCA was incomplete and more input was needed.
His argument is that Sabah has in its record 540 species of birds, signifying that there should be more.
He also said that there are but a few individuals in Sabah capable of identifying birds.
“In the (state) government, I can name only three people. One of them works at the Sabah Parks while two are attached with the Sabah Wildlife Department in Lok Kawi,” he said.
Due to this, there is a need to increase staff capacity in bird survey, he said.