Bird Ringing Data and Field Notes from The Kelabit Highlands: 1993 to 2010

Abstract

The initial bird surveys of Sarawak, from 1985 to 1992, covered a few National Parks, and several other lowland sites. From January 1993, until November 2010, a new survey began, to explore a wide expanse of the Kelabit Highlands, including parts of the Pulong Tau National Park. During this eighteen-year period, the sites selected ranged from lower montane areas of the Kelabit plateau close to its border with Kalimantan to the higher montane slopes of Mount Murud massif to the north. The duration of these surveys, largely self-funded, ranged from short-term ones, of ten to fourteen days each, to several extended ones that lasted as long as three continuous months at the same location. A large volume of data, on 227 species, was collected during this time. A small part of it has been analysed to support a series of short papers previously published in The Sarawak Museum Journal. Much of it, however, especially the ringing data, remains unpublished. It is now released into public domain for use by other workers. The data collected in the lowland surveys will be published in a separate paper.