Migratory birds find other refuge in Central Luzon

SAN FERNANDO, Pampanga, Philippines – This year, the Candaba swamp is losing its reputation as refuge of migratory birds which are escaping from the cold weather in their habitats in other countries.

The birds are now finding new destinations in Central Luzon, letting go of the Candaba swamp which continues to be constricted by human activities, said Arthur Salazar, regional technical director for protected areas and wildlife of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) here.

The wild birds’ new destinations are Barangays Tortugas, Lote Itaas, Lote Ibaba and Sibacan-Tuyo in Balanga City, Bataan, and Barangays Batang 1 and Batang II in Sasmuan, Pampanga.

According to Salazar, the recent bird census shows a yearly decline in the number of wild birds flying into the Candaba swamp, even as the population of migratory birds is increasing significantly in Balanga and Sasmuan.

“There are also some sightings of wild birds in Casiguran, Aurora and Pantabangan Dam in Nueva Ecija, but not in significant numbers yet,” Salazar said.

Salazar, however, did not attribute the decline of the seasonal wild bird population in the Candaba swamp to climate change, saying the birds seem to be merely looking for other areas where they would not be disturbed.

Records show that the Candaba swamp is now just 77 hectares from 27,000 hectares at the turn of the 20th century.

Salazar said more areas in the swamp are now titled and being planted to crops. “Some local farmers have been reported to even blast firecrackers to scare off the wild birds destroying their crops during the planting season,” he added.

In the 1980s, bird watchers, also called birders, used to count about 100,000 ducks at the Candaba swamp at any time during the migratory season.  

In 2011 though, only 8,725 wild birds were recorded in a census conducted by the Wild Bird Club of the Philippines.

Last January, the DENR recorded merely 5,475 waterfowls of 31 local and foreign species in the swamp.

As the wild bird population shrank in Candaba, Balanga City folk initiated their first Ibong Dayo (Wild Bird) Festival, as wild birds in their area have significantly increased.

Balanga City is bounded on the north by Abucay town, on the east by Manila Bay, on the west by the mountains of Bagac and Morong towns, and on the south by Pilar town, in a geographic environment that provides security and space for the wild birds, Salazar said.

Vast areas in Balanga’s three barangays were declared by the city government within the Balanga City Wetland and Nature Park.