Urban landscape for birdwatching activities

Abstract

Urban landscapes are usually dominated by built spaces and human-made vegetation, which different from natural landscapes. This difference will affect the composition of birds that can be found in the urban landscape. For birdwatchers, birds are the main object in birdwatching activities. The objectives of this paper were to analyze the feasibility of urban landscapes for birdwatching activities and find out the characteristics of urban landscapes favored by birdwatchers in four cities in Java (Bogor, Sukabumi, Bandung, and Surabaya). Birdwatchers’ site preference and perception were surveyed through online questionnaires in February through May 2020 (n=1,247 respondents). Surveyed data revealed that birdwatching sites’ size varied between 0.05 and 76.82 ha, mainly urban forests and city parks. Most of the urban landscape was habitat to various bird species typical of the urban landscape (e.g., Eurasian tree-sparrow, Cave swiftlet, Black-headed Bulbul). Raptors (e.g., Black-thighed Falconet) are found in several locations. Among the respondents, 25 % (n=309) had previously conducted birdwatching activities in urban landscapes, while 72.0% (n=808) expressed their interest in birdwatching in urban landscapes, indicating that urban landscapes was feasible for birdwatching. The most favorite locations were the Bogor Botanical Gardens, Darmaga Research Forest (both in Bogor), Merdeka Field Park, Cikundul Agrotourism Area (Sukabumi), Bandung Zoo, Babakan Siliwangi City Forest (Bandung), Bungkul Park, and Flora Park (Surabaya). Characteristics of sites favored by birdwatchers were a shady area, not noisy location, and any facilities for birdwatching. The diversity of bird species did not became the main reason.