IPOH: For more than 130 years, Taiping Lake Gardens, home to gigantic and scenic rain trees, has not only been a famous attraction for human visitors but also migratory birds.
But only in 2021, the trees with abundant food sources, and excellent temperature and humidity conditions were reported to have attracted the rare hoopoes, or its scientific name “Upupa epops” or “hudhud” in Arabic, the colourful birds notable for their distinctive ‘crown’ of feathers.
According to Taiping Zoo and Night Safari director Dr Muhamad Ridhwan Affendi, this was based on the research conducted by the Taiping Municipal Council (MPT) in collaboration with the Nature Ecosystem Sustainability Organisation (NEST), which observed the factors that have caused the migratory birds to find a temporary home at the Taiping Lake Gardens.
He said a pair of rare hoopoes was first discovered at the lake garden in 2021 and found to have laid eggs and hatched in the lake area.
“In May 2021, three hoopoe chicks hatched in a hole-nest in a Jemerlang tree at the lake garden, just 40 days after the pair were seen building a nest in that tree on April 5 of the same year.
“Until now, this bird species can still be found in the surrounding area, and the farthest it has been seen is around Kamunting. The hoopoe bird is easily recognisable due to its bright colour and stripes,” he told Bernama.
He said that this bird, with its distinctive orange and black crest and long, curved beak, is commonly found in Europe, Asia, the Northern Sahara, and Africa.
Other than the hoopoes, Muhamad Ridhwan said other migratory birds found in the Taiping Lake Gardens were the black-capped kingfisher, stork-billed kingfisher, rufous-backed kingfisher, white-bellied sea eagle, black baza, oriental honey buzzard, Japanese sparrowhawk, Chinese sparrowhawk, Javan pond heron, grey heron and the hooded pitta.
He said this had also prompted the zoo to organise Taiping Bird Week at the lake garden and the programme, which was first introduced in 2017, recorded 154 local and foreign participants at its fourth edition last month.
“Based on the number of observations for the open category, 86 bird species have been recorded, while in the school category, 32 bird species successfully recorded in the Taiping Lake area. This sends a very clear message that Taiping is rich in bird species diversity,” he said.
Muhammad Ridhwan said that due to the overwhelming positive response, Taiping Bird Week has also been included in the annual calendar of activities for the state and will continue to be organised every year.
He said this year’s edition was successfully organised with the allocation from Tourism Perak and sponsorship from Olympus and Fujifilm. He added that it is also hoped that birding, bird watching, and bird photography activities during the Taiping Bird Week will become one of the main attractions in Perak for years to come with the Taiping Lake Gardens being the avitourism hub in the country. – BERNAMA
