Bird Diversity of Lingai, Terengganu, Malaysia

Abstract

This study was conducted to determine the species diversity of birds and to establish a checklist of bird species in Lingai, Terengganu, Malaysia. Two different sampling stations were chosen; which was old growth vegetation and agriculture area. Mist netting was conducted for five consecutive days, monthly from November 2012 to April 2013. A total of 83 individuals belonging to 14 families were sampled and recorded. From 25 different species, 59 individuals (71.1%) were netted from old growth vegetation while another 24 (28.9%) were netted from agriculture area. From the study, the Shannon-Weiner index was calculated where old growth vegetation gave a higher value of H'=2.526, than that of agriculture area with a value of H'=2.126. The test shows no significant difference in terms of bird diversity (t = 0.0074, df = 81, P>0.05) between both sites. The dominant species caught was stripe-throated bulbul (Pycnonotus fynlaysoni) followed by collared scops owl (Ottus bakkamoena). As a conclusion, the result shows that Lingai has a diverse bird community that must be conserved and more studies should be made in order to understand better on the diversity of birds in Lingai.