PHILIPPINE COCKATOO: A beautiful bird that once lived in Panay

Have you ever heard about a bird called Philippine cockatoo or red-vented cockatoo or "abukay" in the Ilongo dialect? Perhaps your grandparents had seen these birds and may have some good memories about them. These days, this bird is about to become a mere legend. If you have seen one, consider yourself very lucky because this is one of the most critically endangered bird species in the country. This bird has not been sighted in the Panay Islands since 1970.

The bird used to be abundant in lowland forests and coastal mangrove areas. With the lowland forest gone and coastal mangroves continually declining due to fishpond conversion, this beautiful bird has become just a beautiful memory in the minds of our grandparents.

The bird has a snowy white plume with a combination of yellow and red tail. The red color is at the base of the tail and the yellow at the middle while the tip gradually changes into a whitish yellow. Its beak is grayish that slopes down and the male has a feather on top of its bill protruding upward. It has black to dark gray feet and spreads like a web.

The Philippine Cockatoo is a loving bird and, like any pigeon-like bird, makes romances by feeding its mate with the leaves of the trees.

In 1910, a scientist named McGregor reported that the Philippine cockatoo (Cacatua haematuropygia) is a common forest resident, being endemic to the country. As of 1992, its total world population was estimated at 1,000 to 4,000 individual birds. The bird now only thrives in Palawan and cannot be found in other parts of the country.

But we still have a chance not to lose other endangered species that are still in our forests. We still have the endangered Visayan Tarictic Hornbill (Penelopides panini), the White-billed Hornbill (Aceroswalden) and the Bleeding Heart Pigeon (Gallicolumbia sp.). The hornbills are still thriving in the Panay Mountains while the Bleeding Heart Pigeon was reportedly seen at the Sampunong Bolo Bird Sanctuary in Sara, Iloilo.

We cannot afford to lose them now. We cannot afford to let our children hear this sad story again that "Once upon time, there were beautiful birds flying in the mountains of Panay. Now they are gone."

Let us help conserve and protect our marvelous environment. More than its aesthetic value, birds have very important role to play in the stability of our ecosystems. They are very much a part of our food chain that without them, we are killing ourselves slowly.