The ecology of mangrove forest birds in Peninsular Malaysia

Abstract

The density, distribution and feeding ecology of birds of mangrove forests in Selangor on the west coast of Peninsular Malaysia were investigated between February and May 1989. Excluding aerial hunters and wading birds, 47 species were recorded from four mangrove forest sites in Selangor, though undoubtedly some rarer species were missed due to the brevity of the study. The estimated density of birds, using fixed‐width transects, ranged from 15 to 26 birds per ha. One quarter of all birds counted belonged to just one species, the Ashy Tailorbird Orthotomus ruficeps. Excluding ground feeders (three species), four foraging guilds were recognized among 17 of the commonest bird species: obligate foliage‐foraging insectivores (seven species), bark‐foraging insectivores (four), facultative nectar‐ivores (five) and aerial hawkers (one). Species within the first and third guilds apparently were partitioned by foraging technique and heights, while those of the second guild (woodpeckers) differed mainly in their selection of plant species. The horizontal distribution of several species corresponded to the zonation of mangroves. Avifaunal differences between sites reflected differences in forest floristics. The greatest number of species occurred at the dry landward edge site, which supported seven bird species not encountered elsewhere in Selangor. This habitat has almost completely disappeared from much of the peninsula owing to land reclamation. Four of the six resident mangrove‐specialized bird species in Selangor were regularly recorded at two or more sites, another (Greater Gol‐denback Woodpecker Chrysocolaptes lucidus) occurred at only one site and the last (Ruddy Kingfisher Halcyon coromanda) was never recorded. Two species of sunbirds probably play an important role in the pollination of several species of mangroves. The colonization of anthropogenic habitats by many mangrove‐dwelling bird species is attributed partly to their generalized foraging niches, which may have evolved in response to regular fluctuations in food availability and the dynamic physiography of mangrove communities.